>> Now if I can learn enough Linux to make a difference.
You will. Armed with persistence and Google, anyone can “learn Linux”.
I did. I still use Windows (XP) for my day-to-day. Some of my software (EDA and data acquisition programming tools) runs only on Windows.
But I have been poking at Linux for about 3 years now — at first out of intrigue, and lately because it’s simply the best (or only) tool for the job. For example, our virtual private server is Linux because that was the best choice; and I’m running a Ubuntu workstation (via VMWare hosted on my XP machine) to build Linux software for our microcontroller product firmware, ‘cause that’s the *only* reasonable way to get ‘er done.
I’m not intending to start a “distro flame war”, but I really like Ubuntu. I tried Fedora but it just never gained any traction in my circumstances.
You must have some serious hardware to not just run XP, but then to run an extra layer for VMWare, and then another layer for Ubuntu. Why don't you cut out all those middle men and run Ubuntu as a standalone?