Apparently it’s possible to seamlessly integrate Windows and Linux, in one desktop, without “interpretation layers” or virtual machines, running Linux as a port to the Windows kernel. Applications run side-by-side as naturally as you could want, as if they had lived together forever.

And to be honest, I have almost no interest in it, aside from morbid curiosity (I think it would be fun to try and break 😈 ).

It’s not that I think andLinux is misguided or a waste of time — quite to the contrary. I think it’s an excellent and useful tool for people who use Windows.

But the fact is, I consider Windows to be sub-par now. I have higher expectations than Windows can meet, and merging Linux into Windows isn’t what I want or need. I have legitimate licenses for a version of Windows on two of the four machines I have right now, but I don’t run Windows on any of them, because Windows doesn’t fulfill my expectations.

And I have come to the point that I doubt it ever will. I’ll repeat that, just so I’m clear: Windows is a failure for me.

I’m more than two years into Linux and I have demands that Windows can’t meet. I want speed without bulk — after Windows 2000, I never saw that again (unless I scraped away at XP with nlite). I expect stability, which again, I don’t recall having after Win2k, although opinions vary on that issue. I expect flexibility and customization, and aside from changing the wallpaper or the color of the menu bars, I don’t see what Windows offers me (unless I dump even more money into it).

But maybe most of all, licensing issues, DRM and closed-source software aren’t what I want any more. I can’t suffer updates that “might” break the system without being given the option to fix it myself. Or software that’s going to make changes to my system without telling me. And I certainly wouldn’t pay money for a product that did those things.

I’m very happy with Linux, start to finish. It meshes perfectly with what I want from a computer, and gives me dozens of other options if it isn’t “just right.” I don’t expect I will ever get the same things from Microsoft (or any other proprietary OS vendor … that means you, Mac fans), but I’m very comfortable with that. Those who want and need it can use it — you have my blessing. But at present my Windows discs are buried in a box in the closet. And I expect they will stay there forever.