One of the very first things most people do when they get a new computer is to set it up the way they like it. Almost any computer lets you set things like color schemes and desktop wallpaper. Linux goes way beyond that, letting you pick desktop managers, screen savers, and the user interface paradigms that they use. Most popular there is of course KDE and Gnome, but there are many others. And now we have Compiz and Beryl on top of those to further extend their configurablity. Sometimes these things make no sense: Why would anyone run a screen saver on a laptop? You get X number of hours on the Cold Cathode Tube that is the backlight, and then it's gone. Running geometry across the screen uses CPU, battery, and shortens your away-from-the-wallplug time. LCD's don't burn in the way CRT's do either. Screen savers on laptops are illogical. But I see them all the time.

Linux is all about choice. If you are running Linux as your desktop/laptop already, you have made a big choice. But those who have made the switch did not, one and all, make it for any monolithic reason. Here are ones I can think of for why people move to Linux from MS Windows:

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