That jump off the cliff is gonna hurt.
As one with all of my computers (laptop and desktop) dual boot, Ubuntu 7.04 Linux I can say that Linus is a hobby OS that is almost up to Windows 3.1 in capability and ease of use. The average Joe will never be able to deal with Linux.
Some examples-
Laptop display doesn't work with Linux.
Laptop wireless network card MUST have Windows drivers to work (Linux won't work without Windows... cool!).
Desktop can't get reasonable display resolution with Linux.
Can't get a decent CAD package for Linux. The list goes on and on...
Uhh--I'm running Linux exclusively on my laptop...
Desktop can't get reasonable display resolution with Linux.
...and I'm running 1280x1024 resolution.
Laptop wireless network card MUST have Windows drivers to work
While I'm running that particular configuration, I happen to personally know quite a few people who run wireless natively under Linux--without any troubles.
I generally have very few problems with laptop displays.
Laptop wireless network card MUST have Windows drivers to work (Linux won't work without Windows... cool!).
Actually, Linux works quite well with a variety of wireless adapters without Windows drivers (Orinoco, Intel, Broadcom, Atheros, Aironet etc).
Perhaps you’d have better luck loading Vista on it. /sarc