Linux can be a real pain to work with sometimes, but the benefits are pretty substantial.  For one, the operating system itself is incredibly secure.  There’s no question about it.  If you properly configure your Linux server and follow security best-practices (task segregation based on users, keeping applications updated, setting mindful permissions, etc.), you will never have any problems.

In spite of it’s recent update, Windows is becoming very antiquated.  There isn’t as much innovation in Vista as there has been in previous releases.  The fancy Aero theme? Linux has been on top of that for a while.  SideShow? Not impressed.  Safer kernel? Linux has boasted that for years.

But, I still use Windows as my main operating system.  Why?

• I don’t want to jump through 3 different programs just to get my e-mail out of Outlook and in to Evolution/Thunderbird.  Maybe the next version of Ubuntu could include a simple IMAP server that I could put all of my mail on?
• Getting something like Remote Desktop (a feature of Windows for years) to work on Linux (like FreeNX) shouldn’t be so complicated.  It should be just as easy to set up a remote session as it is in Windows.
• Video card support needs to improve.
• I can’t sync my PocketPC PDA with Evolution/Thunderbird.  I wouldn’t mind running a session of Windows XP in Parallels, but I’m not sure if it will connect to USB devices.  This also brings up the issue of…
• Is there anything that allows connections to Exchange servers?  Or is there an Exchange replacement in Linux?

Once these issues get resolved, I’ll move my computers to be 100% Linux.