There really is no reason to be tied down by a proprietary system any longer. Everything you need to do is available in a Linux distribution of your choice. All you need to do is get the iso file, burn it to CD-R, set your BIOS to boot from CD and all the paid "upgrades", patch Tuesdays, spyware and other malware will immediately be a thing of the past.
Two or three years ago you might have heard 'Just get a Mac', but the usability difference in Apple's favor is quickly diminishing; by the time 'Jaunty Jackalope' is released (Ubuntu 9.04), that too will be but a fading memory.
The days of huge laptops is drawing to a close as well; though some still offer the now ancient XP as a choice, by and large they all run some form of Linux.
When even longtime MS captive HP is considering developing their own Linux distribution, you know that the ship has been breached, and it is only a matter of time before it is fully sunk.
If there is some must have application that has not yet been developed for you, you can always use a virtual machine to run it in; and no, games don't count.
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