Most desktops, laptops and netbooks on the market nowadays come with Microsoft’s Windows pre-installed, which is pretty surprising seeing as people want to save as much as possible on the purchase. The Windows license adds quite a lot to the price – $50-100 at least – and when you’re buying a $400 laptop, that’s a lot of money.

But why would you choose Windows for your home or even work computer when there’s a better and cheaper alternative – Linux? I know that the name alone makes a lot of people cringe, but the Linux of today is drastically different than the Linux of even half a decade ago. Today, the multiple distributions of this open source and free OS are sleek, fast and have all the apps you’ll ever need on your computer. Here are just a few reasons why you should at least consider Linux as the main OS on the next computer you buy:

It’s Stable.

Linux is a very stable OS – that’s one of the main reasons it’s used in more than half of all the Web servers in the world. The graphical interface had some issues in the past, but by now most of them have been solved and you can use it without fearing of losing any data or files or having your screen go blank at any moment – in fact, at this point, Linux is even more stable than Windows (especially XP and Vista).

It’s Beautiful.

You might be associating Linux with text-based interfaces and ugly GUIs, but the fact is that Linux has some of the most advanced and beautiful graphical interfaces of all operating systems, and if you like eye candy like transparency, wobbly windows, various animations, the ability to completely customize your interface (not only change the colors like in Windows 7), you will never want to switch away from Linux. For a few examples, see some screenshots and videos of KDE 4.0, Ubuntu Unity and Compiz effects, and also see how easily Linux interface can be transformed into Windows 7 or Mac OS X.

It has All the Necessary Apps.

Linux has all the apps that you might need in everyday use, and there are some unique programs that aren’t available on other platforms, as well. Whether you spend most of your time in the browser, watch movies and listen to music or edit photos or documents, Linux has all the tools you might need, and most of them are free, as well. If they’re not enough, however, you can always run Windows apps, too (using the WineHQ software, which is free) – most of the popular apps are supported!

It’s Very Affordable.

This is one of the aspects that most proponents of Linux use. Not only are Linux distros free themselves, but most of the apps are, as well. You can save hundreds or even thousands of dollars on software that would otherwise cost you a lot, especially if you plan on installing multiple copies of the OS and the apps on your computers in the office.

It has Fewer Distractions.

While Linux does have some games available for it, you sure won’t waste time playing any seriously time consuming games, as they simply won’t work. The same goes for tons of other distracting apps, although if you play games on Facebook, you’re probably beyond saving :-).

Linux is a great choice no matter what you intend to use your computer for, so be sure to give Ubuntu, Mint, OpenSuse or any other distribution a try before you decide to pay extra for Windows and get your next computer.