It's common knowledge among geeky circles that you can prolong the life of your aging hardware if you install a Linux distro. What usually results is a snappy PC or small server instead of a machine that used to creak and groan on Windows.

Now this post on CNN Asia makes that bit of conventional wisdom official:

True or False: Switching from a Windows-operated computer to a Linux-operated one could slash computer-generated e-waste levels by 50%.

The answer is: TRUE

The bold proclamation is based on a study from a few years ago that found that Windows users have to toss out their old hardware twice as often.

A UK government study in late 2004 reported that there were substantial green benefits to running a Linux open source operating system (OS) on computers instead of the ubiquitous Windows OS, owned by Microsoft. The main problem with Windows users was that they had to change their computer twice as many times as Linux users, on average, thereby effectively creating twice as much computer-generated e-waste.

And judging by the gluttonous reputation Windows Vista has earned, it doesn't look like things will change any time soon. And by the way, Linux has been getting hip to new power saving tricks if you want to give it a try.