11 Mar 07
I know this is an old thread, but for my 2 cents worth, I agree with Stephen. I now have my laptop dual booting into either XP or Ubuntu. The Ubuntu has the option of either the Gnome or Kde window managers. I also installed the Beryl 3D eye candy machine which is really great and lots of fun - probably knocks Vista for 6 in the effects department. Also, my ethernet port and and wifi worked straight off in Ubuntu which is a major headache avoided.
On a spare PC at home I've got a quadruple booting setup - Win98 (for all those old games), XP, Ubuntu and SuSE. But between SuSE and Ubuntu my vote is for Ubuntu - seems more stable and hardly any configuration snags at all.
By the way, here in England we jave a monthly mag called Linux Format which I subscribe to - it's packed full of hugely good stuff and the editorial team really know their stuff. A tad expensive, but worth it if you are serious about getting to know Linux. There is also the Mono framework which allows .net development in Linux, but I haven't worked with it yet.They do overseas subscriptions throughout the empire too. Now that Vista is out, I'll probably wait to buy a new PC rather than upgrading - trouble is I fancy a Mac (never used a Mac ever!) especially as they can be made to dual/triple boot. Rather expensive though. My next mini project is to install Linux on a USB stick since they're so cheap now, and then boot the laptop from it - insurance for when all the tinkering goes up the swanee.
PS There's a new Ununto due in Apr 07, called Feisty Fawn (I suppose the one after that will be called Gawping Geek!!)