5 Reasons Why Linux is Better than Windows: an Argument from an Apprentice in the art of Linuxing

First of all, I am going to explain my experience with both Windows and Linux. There have been a lot of heat between these two operating systems, and I hope to finally settle the argument once and for all. I have been using Linux Mint for two years now. I enjoy using it, but I dual boot with Windows just because some things just like to run in Windows more than Linux. I only use Windows when I have to. I have an extensive history with Windows, beginning with Windows 3.1, 98, XP, 7, 8.1, and 10. I loved to go file exploring with the computers I had, especially Windows 98 and above. Then, I had figured out how to hack into the Administrator's account in Windows 7, which was fairly easy, yet convoluted. From there, my experience expanded as I installed Linux Mint over Windows, then installed Windows, then attempted a dual-boot. Finally, I ended up with Linux Mint 17.2 Rafaela and Windows 10 on the same machine, both fully bootable and operational. I am going to explain why you should use Linux if you are frustrated with mainstream operating systems from Microsoft or Apple.

1. You can make Linux as hard or as easy to use as you want it

There are so many options nowadays. You can install Linux without the graphical user interface (GUI), and used text-based operation only, or use GNU-Linux. GNU-Linux is the kind of Linux that comes with a Graphical User Interface already. They are specified with the specific flavor of Linux. There are different kinds of GUIs that you can have as the default (in the case something bad happens, it is the go-to GUI to fix things besides command-line-interface). Sure, you can build your operating system from the ground up as in Arch Linux, but if you are lazy and impatient, I would suggest getting a linux flavor with an easy desktop environment, such as Cinnamon, Enlightenment (for speed with relative functionality), MATE (use desktop items to launch WINE programs), or KDE (which is just a fat desktop environment, but nice eye-candy).
If you know what you are doing, then installing well-developed flavors of Linux is easy (ubuntu, fedora, mint). Setting them up is easy.
Linux also has its own software manager for all of the software you might want on this platform. You can also get some Windows programs to work through Wine, PlayOnLinux, and Steam, such as some video games, and Microsoft Office 2010 and below. Oh, and you can also run Putt-putt in linux in WINE.
Also, If you need Windows for something, you can always stick it in a virtual machine (VM). I have also heard that you can put your native installation of Windows in a VM while running Linux. So you could probably run that Respondus Lockdown Browser and Visual Studio. I have not tried the native VM yet, although I have made some attempts. Just be careful when typing in those terminal commands!
You can also personalize Linux to extremes not allowed in Windows. In Linux mint cinnamon, you can resize icons, change the actual theme of the taskbar, add gadgets, have a dock, change the taskbar menu icon, change the folder theme, change the mouse theme, grub2 (the bootloader) appearance, and add or subtract the number of workspaces (drag and drop programs from one workspace to the other, or even throw it away to close it), and how alt-tab is viewed. 

2. SPEED!

If you are really frustrated with how slow your mainstream operating system is, then you should try Linux. Whenever I use Windows, most of the time I get somewhat impatient. I would try to load some programs in Windows before some items loaded, and it would freeze. I actually made it blue screen, probably because I spammed it with commands. Just a simple warning:  you might get impatient with Windows or Mac after using Linux.
Also, you would be impressed with how integrated keyboard commands are in Linux. This also contributes to speed and efficiency just in case your mouse does not work or freezes (like in Windows, but you don't have this convenience in Windows or Mac, do we?).
I know, some overclocked and/ or gaming computers don't have this problem. Those do not exactly need Linux for this purpose, although it would be entertaining how ludicrously fast it would be on that hardware.

3. More troubleshoot-ability

In Windows, the hexadecimal clunky computer-gunk errors yield no explanation unless you connect to the internet. In the case that it gives you that error, and you cannot connect to the internet, salute Windows for how much they assume you have something else to surf the internet with.
With Linux, if something goes sour, you can Ctrl-Alt-F1 your way into the command-line-interface (CLI), log in, and attempt what you were doing in the GUI in the CLI, but this time, it is telling you what is going on with more or less clarity than just a line of hexadecimal error message number. You can also use other desktop environments in the case that one of them breaks with a recent update or installation. Neither Mac nor Windows can have several desktop environments at the same time, but I could be wrong. Someone has probably figured out how to crack Macs to run Cinnamon or something, and KDE on Windows. When you run WINE programs, and the program crash dumps, WINE will be courteous enough to allow you to view the crash dump info, and what happened.
Linux is fairly hard to break compared to Windows. If linux locks up or is slow, try getting to the CLI by Ctrl-Alt-F1, login, then killall -u username to kill all the processes it was running and return to the GUI logon screen. If it completely froze, which is a rare occurence, force restart by pressing and holding the power button. If that does not work, remove the power source and let it die (this never happened to me).
Anyway, there are many support forums for linux. Linux mint comes with hex chat preloaded with the Linux mint help forums. The people there know a bit about Linux if you have any questions about it.

4. Software Compatibility

 There are some programs out there that are cross-platform (has support for several different operating systems) such as open office, spotify and thunderbird. There are also some Windows programs that you could possibly want such as Microsoft Office. I have Microsoft Office 2010 on Linux using PlayOnLinux, WINE, and Winbind. The only thing that does not work is adding more add-ons, and Outlook. You can also install Google Chrome on there, and it also has a clone name chromium. Also, there are many IDEs available in Linux. In addition, I would let you know that some native Linux gaming emulators tend to not come with the gui, so you will have to dig sourceforge.net or elsewhere for it.
What is really convenient is installing through the terminal. Just ask the computer to fetch the installation files from the internet and install them.
This made me think of something totally awesome:  what if all the programs were put into binary files, and that all the operating systems had their own native interpreter. And all of the binary files were on servers like the Linux Software manager. That way, we could sudo apt-get install packagename on all of the operating systems instead of rummaging around on the internet. Keep in mind, this is my idea, and if I start seeing it around and become a "thing," I will claim it as my own and name it fluffy.

5. Nice on old stuff

Linux can run on pretty much everything. It is basically what most circuit boards run if you have a circuit board debugger. Linux installs without you having to install all of the drivers, except for the proprietary ones, that is. On an AMD computer, you have to install the fglrx driver just so you can suspend and hibernate correctly. On even older computers, you do not really have to do anything special. It does not run systems ragged like Windows can. On my computer, Windows makes my fan run to cool down the extra resources it is using while idling. While my computer is idling in Linux, it is a whisper.


Summary

I know this topic is hot for flame wars, but I hoped I cleared some misunderstandings up. Yes, you can run several Windows video games through an installation in PlayOnLinux. I also know that I am not an expert. I level myself as something like an apprentice. I am actually a college student majoring in Information Technology, and took up Linux the summer before my Freshman year of college. I have been using Linux for approximately 2 years now, and using Windows depresses me. Mac also depresses me. I am so used to using Linux that I went too fast for Windows to process my spamming the commands (mashing several buttons methodically). Macs simply treat their users like children because ctrl-alt-t does not bring up the terminal / command prompt thing, neither does ctrl-alt-f1 work to bring up the CLI. I like to work in the CLI sometimes to make somethings work/ troubleshoot things to get the messages the programs are spewing out. And I do not think sudo exists for Mac OS, but I could be wrong.

Why racism is so ridiculous

Racism is ridiculous. Why do some people make generalizations about the other race? Some may think white people are so stuck-up (and some of them are, but not all of them). Other people may think black people are good for nothing (some of them are, but not all of them). What is true is that some individuals included in all the races of all people are total jerks.
RACE does not define PERSONALITY. What if all of us were aliens with purple and green spots, and the aliens without horns resented the aliens with horns, but the aliens with horns envied the strength of the aliens without horns.
Why can't all of us just get along and not be so shallow by just looking on the outward appearance. A person could be ridiculously handsome, but still a jerk, or another person could be really ugly and have a heart of gold. My mother told me that it is the inside that counts, not the outside.
Take the motion picture Frozen, for example. Anna was enamored with Hans, who turned out to be a total jerk because he wanted to exploit one of the Princesses' royalty and become king.
Sometimes it helps to think of the physical thing that others see as just your shell. It is the layers of personality that one has that makes a person worth being with. True, some people are flawed in their personalities. Nobody is truly perfect in any way, but some things you will HAVE to overlook. Not many people have impeccable manners. Not many people are polite all the time. Not may people may give you the attention that you want. So..... nobody is perfect.
Just because a few individuals are a certain way doesn't mean that they are all that way. A few people may be mean, but that doesn't mean all people are mean. This is an invalid argument.  Just because some people you meet and spend most of your time with are nice doesn't mean that all people are nice, either.
If all of the people in the world could not see each other's appearance, how would they judge each other? Naturally, we would judge each other by the personality, tone, attitude of the voice. Like I said before, it is what is on the inside that counts. We are blinded by the outward appearance, and fail to see the inside. Some people would see more blind than with literal sight. To a blind person, you could be any race, and it would not matter. However, when we have literal eyes to see with, we are blinded with prejudice.
Next time when you vote for someone, don't vote for them because of how they look. Vote for them because of their personality. I may not be able to turn people away from a hasty generalization, but I can at least point out some things that don't make much sense.