Like many people, I am trying to decrease slowly the amount of interaction I have with Microsoft products. I have a dual-boot system with WinXP Pro and Mandrake Linux 9.2, on which I use Windows probably 90% of the time (in Windows now, in fact). I have been happily using Mozilla Phoenix/Firebird/Firefox for some time, and use IE less and less, if at all (an article at Lockergnome gives good reasons to switch). I have downloaded OpenOffice.org, and will begin using it immediately. I still use Outlook, and that will be the hardest thing to get rid of, but I will try.
Why? Partly because I want to support open source, partly because of M’soft’s business practices. Also, I like options, and I want to be sure that we always have them. I’ll keep you updated on my babysteps away from M’Soft, and proprietary software in general.