Open source on Windows as upgrade path

A lot of people are saying lately that they don't see linux rising on the desktop anytime soon, but they are recognising the viability of open source software as evidenced by Firefox usage. The interesting thing is that with apps like Firefox, Thunderbird, and OpenOffice on the rise, Windows users will increasingly find it easier to move as their core productivity apps are portable. The average open source product today is notably portable between linux and other unices plus OSX and increasingly windows.

I first used open source (perl and gcc) in Windows 3.1. As a developer I found the open tools friendlier and then found using them in linux that much friendlier. Now I use a Mac and PC's and run many of the same applications in OSX and Linux.