What's your OS

Linux for those few who still don't know, is an alternative operating system for computers. I personally was a little bit late getting into the Linux realm mostly because of slow internet connections in the rural town I live in. My first linux install was a cpy of Mandrake in 2001. I remember thinking how cool it was to find an OS that I didn't already know how it worked. I started on Dos 3.2 and moved my way up the Windows ladder to 2kpro at that point in time, but this was a whole new ballgame. For the year following I followed linux excitedly. As a software developer I shouted the praises of Open Source software, and forecasted to everyone that their windows would be a piece of history in a few years.

Looking back, the topology of Information Systems has changed dramatically. For instance, in 2000, I had one PC with a dual boot windows/mandrake.

I currently have one Windows PC for my wife, one Linux workstation for the kids, One Linux server for file sharing, etc. and I am writing this from my Macbook running OS X 10.5.

Not only do my physical systems run the gamut, my Mac runs Vmware Fusion and has multiple Linux distro's installed ranging from Suse, Gentoo, Ubuntu, OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) Linux, and even one Windows XP VM.

No longer is there any issue of what operating system you use, you no longer must commit to one. It seems that the enterprise has not realized this yet. I work as a programmer for the nations largest air-ambulance company and we are committed to one specific desktop. But even there I am starting to see a difference. When people mention they want a different OS, we in the IT department don't automatically cringe. It's much easier to make everyone's computer play nicely now than it was 7 years ago.