[Joe Forster/STA]

If that was a real E-mail from the police (highly doubt it!), trouble came because the police are a bunch of idiots when it comes to software. (Actually, in Hungary, the police was using illegal software in the equivalent amount of ten thousands of dollars until they made a deal with M$ to get their software for low prices. Also, there were raids where they labeled legally downloaded software as pirated copies and wanted the subject to pay a fine for that, too.)

As for Linux, all of its distributions are free software (don't mix it up with freeware; if you don't know the difference, see the appropriate page on http://www.gnu.org!) - and therefore legal to download and use for any purpose - because they consist of software released under the GNU Public License (or a compatible licence). And Linux IS better than Windows in most respects IF you (want to/manage to) learn how to use it; your comparison result is greatly flawed! (Nope, I don't use Linux either - not at all at home and rarely at work - but I know its advantages...) How long have you used Linux, if at all?