I use visio, Sonar, Winamp, Adobe photoshop and video editing software, Sonar sound editing software, Nero cd & DVD burning software, a number of free apps for things like ripping CD’s to MP3, etc. and still play command and conquer, I also use Microsoft office tools that I know can be replaced by open office easily.
But other than the Microsof Office stuff, do any of those things work on Lynux? When they do, I’ll make the switch. Gladly. Until they do, I won’t.
Sonar--never heard of it, but Linux does have several audio editing tools. My son uses one called MixCraft that he seems to like a lot.
Winamp--no problem. Several apps look and feel just like it., though there are better ones out there.
PhotoShop--Now it's getting into the heavy hitters. The closest (which probably isn't good enough for you) is GIMP
Video editing--there are several good ones. I don't do video editing, so I'm not aware of the titles off th etop of my head, though I have seen quite a few articles about this genre of software.
DVD burning--piece of cake. I can rip/burn DVDs, download video (and extract the audio) from youtube, etc.
Games? I ton. Steam just announced they've hit the 500 game mark for Steam Linux. This morning, I saw that Civ V was announced as a native port to Linux.