Wouldn’t mind using Linux here, but there’s a problem. The world uses Windows, our customers use Windows, our development software runs on Windows, our executives are very much tied to Exchange, and I’m a big believer in eating your own dog food.
So we use Windows.
But I would try to introduce a variety into your backends if possible. Firewall, web site, etc could easily run a different OS without impacting the user experience. That diversity would hedge against any malware introduced into your system, as any malware cannot attack multiple different OSes.
Internet networking is very complex, having nothing to do with any particular os. I’m using CentOS (free download with red hat as the “upstream vendor”). It has gotten very nice and simple - Relatively. You will need to learn a little. With windows, everyone just runs it, but they should be learning also, since they have a nightmarishly vulnerable os. most people just don’t realize how bad windows is. But switching to any other os is not a no-brainer solution. there just is no easy answer for having a secure and efficient-to-use os. that being said, the biggest software category for the “compatibility” argument for running windows is office: spreadsheet, word processor, etc. Open Office is a wonderful free download that supports the basic file types you would email back and forth. I’ve sent people spreadsheets and docs and they opened them up fine in their “pay” counterparts. Open Office is VERY simple to install, runs on windows and linux (its written in java). centos comes with open office, no need to download.
as a 20-year software guy, i just gave up on paying big dollars for windows software developer tools which don’t get better every year, just more complex, expensive and “controlling”. i’m the most free-enterprise person you’ll Ever meet, but monopolies such as ms have zero creativity, just and endless search for revenue without providing value. with centos i’m on my own for support (which is not so bad with the existence of google), but I get the FULL toolset for free; a database server, email server, web server, many languages, the list goes on and on. the non-techie user, though, still has a bit of a task to get familiar with what “services” are running and how to turn them off if they just want a secure, single user machine.
I haven’t looked into it yet, but over the holidays another FReeper posted an article about Zorin Linux. It’s supposed to be designed to ease the transition for Windows users, runs faster than 7, and supposedly runs Windows apps faster than Windows.
If it does everything it’s supposed to, it might be an interesting product to use in your environment - the same one many of us are in.