I started using Linux maybe 10 years earlier than that and stopped using Windows at all around Windows 7 (at which point it was just the occasional dual-boot into Windows for a few games every couple of months) and at no point can I remember a time when Windows was good in that time period.

Hardy Heron gang rise up! Me too! I'm now in my late 30's and still need to venture into the world of PGP encryption. And my daily driver is Debian. Distro hopped in the early years... Fond memories of BunsenLabs #! (Crunchbang) and Slax. Had many toxic encounters with OpenSUSE forum users, twas a major turnoff for a young penguin.