I don’t remember exactly when I started using Linux but I guess it was around 2002. Since then I used different linux distros pretty much on daily base. In the company I was working for many years (despite my official position) I got the nickname “the white hacker”. I got quite some experience as a desktop user but also configuring severs, nowadays mostly virtual. My philosophy when it comes to technologies, I prefer to work as much a possible with opensource solutions.
Which distro I prefer?
During so many years I used many distros. I started with Redhat, Mandrake, PCLinuxOS, Linux Mint, Ubuntu, CentOS, ClearOS, MxLinux, Manjaro and many others. Lately I prefer Debian stable if I don't need to install it on newer machine which requires proprietary drivers such Nvidia. In this case I need to use Mint / Ubuntu.
Hating Windows?
Not really, but I prefer much more using and implementing Linux since it’s free and opensource. Windows it’s a product of a big tech company which means they will look as much possible to jail you as consumer in their ecosystem. The same it’s valid for Mac users. The only system that is really free it’s linux. Mac users are probably jailed in the Apple ecosystem as much as Windows users or even more.