[nks]

Talking about Ubuntu vs Microsoft. Here's my comments.

First and foremost, it depends on what your needs are. If you are working in an Office environment that uses Windows as the main source of authentication, then it will be better to stick with Windows XP and forget about using Linux. For example, Microsoft Word document is best used with Microsoft Word, running on Windows, instead of using Wine (an Windows emulator) to run MS Word.

If you are not confined to any operating system environment, then I'm sure you would like to give Ubuntu a trial-run. The LIVE CD would have provided you some insights to let you have a feel if you like it or not. That's the purpose.

However, Linux is far more powerful than you think than just a GUI-replacement for Windows. The idea originated from UNIX/FreeBSD, but someone managed to developed Linux. Ubuntu is just one of the many Linux distros available and I would say, the most popular ones around (others are openSUSE, Debian, RedHat, Mandrake, CentOS, ..etc). Each of these Linux distros have certain strengths and weaknesses. For instance, CentOS is best used in running web hosting server. They require rather little resource, yet provide a straightforward installation and maintenance of the server. However, it's not that useful for running Desktop environment. For desktops, you have a lot more to choose from, e.g. Ubuntu, opensuse, etc. These two are highly recommended for running Desktops (which means users are less likely to meddle around with console terminals).

Ubuntu will be a great OS to start with for beginners. The installation (latest release of 8.04) is smooth-sailing and default programs are installed for users with little interruptions. The comparison between this and Windows' installation is almost insignificant. Users just have to get used to a different environment, and it'll almost become as easy as having your daily meal.

Now, I might have been pro-Linux for all these while, but I would still like to point out some areas which you may NOT want to use Ubuntu.

1) Gaming - most games that you buy off the stores do not support Linux (or even Mac OS X), so you may not be able to run them under Linux easily. There are ways (or pains) to get around doing it.

2) Drivers - this is one major drawback of Linux. A lot of vendors do not provide drivers for Linux systems, for example if you buy a wireless PCI card, or some video graphics cards, drivers for Linux are not available. However, thanks to some Linux developers, drivers have been developed by them and made available in the distro package. So, chances are you are very likely to have your latest graphics card or wireless card supported. However, there is always a small chance that it may not be.

3) Microsoft-related products - Anything that is related to Microsoft, e.g. Windows Live Messenger, MS Office, Internet Explorer, etc.. cannot be run on Linux environment directly. However, there are alternatives, e.g. Pidgins for WLM, OpenOffice in place of MS Office, Firefox to substitute for Internet Explorer.

At the end of the day, it depends on how you would like to use your system for, and how comfortable you are with the operating system. I agree with John to a certain extent that crashed OS and maintenance can led you to frustration and thus, you might be better off with Windows OS. However, how often do you crash OS, if you really do know how to configure it properly in the first place? Linux is a highly configurable operating systems, unlike Windows, but if you lack the time to play around with configurations and mess with scripts; then Windows would be a better choice for you.

On saying so, Ubuntu has almost (but not yet) reached the stage where configuration can be done in GUI. So, you may really want to try it out. Furthermore, there is no harm done. Just play with it, if you don't like it, just revert back to Windows XP.

Final Note on Dual-Boot
If you love Ubuntu, and still wants to run Windows; for some reasons you want two OS, then try dual-boot. In this case, it would be easier to install Windows XP FIRST, then Ubuntu. Let GRUB (from Ubuntu) to be your boot loader.