^^^^^^^^^^^^Linux is a fine way to get more use out of hardware abandoned by MicroSoft.^^^^^^^^^
And hardware abandoned by Apple?
Don't misunderstand, the best thing that can happen is MS losing it's monopoly status. By all means, apple needs to be involved.
Until they are facing competition that's out in the mainstream, things on the spyware/virus front won't get as good as you and I know they should be.
"And hardware abandoned by Apple?"
It remains in use for years, because the OS worked fine in the first place. :') Linux has been ported to the Mac platform, but of course, that'll be easier (well, as easy as Linux gets for us civilians) after Macs are Intel-based.