This is a difficult question which of course I am unable to answer. However I have converted to Linux myself and give some reasons below. Meanwhile, here is a picture of two penguins. What a pity we can't access their views on the subject
I have now got the Linux operating system on my lap top along with Windows XP which it originally came with. For those who don't know, Linux is free as in 'free speech' and as in 'free beer' although sadly you can't drink it. There is a natural human tendency for people to try and own things like computer code and oil. Linux is part of the 'open source' computer movement which tries to counteract this tendency. It is partly but not entirely a non-commercial movement. In addition to helping computer resources to be more available immediately to poorer people, organizations and coutries, the use of open source code by organizations such as Linux is likely to stimulate innovation. Ultimately open source is likely to replace proprietary materials because the code is available to all for further development. By adopting open source products early you can help make computing more inclusive. Unfortunately, many good procucts, such as Skype, are not open source. Open source equivalents almost always exist for applications but in many cases do not work with proprietary equivalents as is the case with Skype. It should be noted that word processing programmes like microsoft's word are copyrighted and the encoding of document's is essentially secret. If you want to continue to be able to access documents in the word format you are locked into maintaing ownership of that programme. This is not the case with free (beer and speech) products such as the OpenOffice series.
That, in a large nutshell, is why I am drifting away from microsoft/apple to open source products such as Linux. So far so good. Check out Linux on your favourite search engine if you are interested
Pirating software may in fact perpetuate the dominance of the software's manufacturer rather than undermine it. This is because most people who pirate the software are unlikely to be major users ie. businesses, educational establishments, government organizations etc. By having a base of pirate users who would probably not buy the programme anyway the company benefits because the programme is more widely circulated and so when the user joins an organization they will already be familiar with the company's software which will be an argument in favour of continuing to use that software within the organization.