1) If you are just a casual Linux user, there's no way you will
touch command prompt. I've never touch Linux command prompts just
to use some programs. But if you are into tweaking and doing other
things, then yes, you will touch it.
2) Not 100% foolproof, but at the very least, you could run
something.
4) As I said, everything is only as safe as you want it to be.
Nothing is better than your brain. Surely not everyone is just as
rich to change their PCs when something breaks down. Some will just
change the part that spoils, others will go for a full change.
Also, the definition of upgrading is different for everybody. For
some, it means a full change, right from hardware to software. For
others, it's "I want this part, I want that part". Changing parts
alone is enough to keep up with the technology.
5) Yes, you will still be able to get them, within a year after MS
drop supports for their products. Retailers won't be so dumb to
throw them away, as they cost money. Over on the Net, there are
even versions of Windows 95. So nothing is impossible.
Even if they get new PCs, it doesn't mean they shouldn't get
outdated software. True, new softwares will have better features.
But that doesn't mean old ones should be discarded. Besides, there
are addons to these old programs, which means new features in old
programs. Won't really lose out.
6) Hardware support in Linux is limited, that I agree. However,
some Linux fans have decided to go against that and have produced
OSes that are compatible with your hardware.
The notation that Linux is hard to install is gone, especially for
popular distros. Mandrake, Ubuntu, Debian, etc all have a GUI. They
even have a partitioning wizard, which is a slider, to indicate how
big you want a partition is. Not typing in numbers like for Windows
installation. For popular distros, it's a point and shoot thing. No
more command line interface.
Linux does have better security, not because it's not as popular,
it's the way Linux is programmed. All users by default, are not
administrators. No matter what, all users will need to create a
password.
And don't forget, because it's open-sourced, many people are
hacking it. It releases updates faster when bugs are found. Just as
many people are hacking it, as many people are fixing it. Just
using Firefox as example, it can be updated as many as 4 times per
month, unlike IE, which is once per month.
There's no such thing as registry in Linux, which complicates
matters, like in Windows.
7) I would beg to differ. You've got to try out one of the popular
distros out there. It's much more easier than you think. Mandrake,
Ubuntu, Debian, Xubuntu, Puppy, PC Linux, Slynux, Linux-XP are some
of the more popular ones and they are easy to use.
