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Call it McCracken's First Law of Operating Systems: A platform's market share is inversely proportional to the passion of its users. Consider...oh, Microsoft Windows, which is the most-used, least-loved OS around. It's not that the typical Windows user hates the Operating System That Redmond Wrought--it's just that it isn't the sort of product that inspires folks to slap stickers on their cars or proselytize to friends.

Then there's Linux, the latest in a long line of underdog platforms that seem to be part product, part lifestyle. (Predecessors include IBM's OS/2 and the Amiga, of which I was a wild-eyed partisan myself circa 1987.) Linux users, though relatively few in number, are undeniably passionate about their operating system. And lately, they've been gloating as Windows types wrangle with viruses, Trojan horses, and other gremlins crafted to attack Microsoft products.

But do penguinheads really have more fun? To find out, we asked a Windows user to deep-six Microsoft for a month. His mission: Get stuff done--both professionally and personally--with Linux and Linux apps. See our report, "The Linux Experiment."

We found our designated Linux newbie in PC World's own offices, in the person of Executive Editor Edward N. Albro. Ed didn't see himself as a would-be Linux geek. But the month-long experiment has come and gone, and today he's still using Linux because--hey, Mikey!--he likes it.

Opting out of the vicious circle of Windows security glitches and patches is part of Linux's appeal, Ed reports. But it goes deeper than that. Windows and products tailored for Windows, tend to be highly automated. In some ways, that's good. But too often, that automation involves products taking liberties with your PC--whether by adding menus to Word without asking, installing extraneous and unwanted software, or mucking about with your system to prevent software piracy.

In contrast, Ed found, Linux and Linux applications are "do-it-yourself--so you only end up doing the things you want to do." In many ways, he relished that control. Still, mastering a do-it-yourself OS isn't without its challenges, especially since the ungeekly among us may find much Linux documentation to be either superficial or Byzantine. So Ed sought assistance from two of our resident Linux wizards, Editorial Applications Development Manager Matthew Newton and Associate Editor Alexandra Krasne.

Alex's experience shows that Linux fans are made, not born: Three years ago, we asked her to cover a Linux conference--and she asked a nearby editor, "What's Linux?" Today, she marvels at "the open-source community's collaboration effort."

"When there's a problem with Windows," she observes, "you're dependent on one company to fix it. Linux has security problems, too, but people jump in and solve them."

Ed, meanwhile, maintains he's just "the guy in the back of the church, still observing." We'll know he's a convert if he dons a penguin shirt--or puts Linux on his trusty ThinkPad.

As for PC World as a whole, it's true that we're focused primarily on Windows products. That emphasis isn't advocacy; it's a response to our reader surveys, which report an unceasing hunger for Windows articles. But lately, those survey results also tell us that readers want meatier Linux coverage. We hear you--and are increasing our attention to Linux, starting with Free Agent, a new online column on the open-source world by Matthew Newton.

Farewell to a Friend

This issue is dedicated to Yvette B. Joplin, who passed away in December. As our prepress manager, Yvette was one of the invaluable people who turn our content into a useful, tangible magazine and site every month; if you're reading this, you benefited from her work. And we at PC World benefited from knowing her--as a colleague and friend--for the past seven years. We'll miss you, Yvette.

Harry McCracken is editor of PC World.