@pocketdrummer: when I bought a retail box for a piece of software a few years ago, it bore the mention 'Windows XP or better'. So, I installed Linux.
As early as 2005 I had a 3D desktop, administrator prompts that popped only when administrative tasks really had to be performed (and it popped only once for a given task, without disrupting what I was doing at the time), a web browser that could open several pages in a single window, a system that didn't fall prey to the worm-of-the-month and had a WORKING firewall, a real command line, a system that didn't require a pair of reboots on each and every update and that didn't need a complete reinstall every time a piece of hardware was changed, and that didn't require 1 Gb of RAM only to boot in less than 10 minutes.
And, even better, it didn't require a complete backup, format and reinstall every time it pooped in its registry.
So, how long did it take you to embrace these new technologies? I've been using them daily for more than 4 years now. Are you saying you've started using them only last april?
I really can't understand why people are so reluctant to embrace new technology.