>>where it rains on your desktop
Huh! You aren't supposed to set your notebook out in the rain I had to get a new video card about a year ago for similar reason -- the game I wanted to play didn't work very well because it was too slow. So bought a new one for about $250 USD (or so) and it works great now.

I used Linux for a while, but I'm back to Windows.

I use Windows on my desktop though.

IMO *nix sucks because it is soooo complex. I know a lot of people will disagree and that's ok too because we each have our own preferences. Some will even say MAC is the way to go.

The complexity of a *nix system is increasingly becoming up to the user. Ubuntu and friends are becoming much more usable for the average user (see: people who don't want to configure text files to setup their system). On the other hand, the available software for *nix platforms and the compatibility (or lack thereof) with their Windows counterparts continue to make them inviable for many.

I use windows because of its simplicity. I also find linux lil boring.

While configuring my Ubuntu I ran into a problem with it not recognizing my graphics card and I had to do some crap with the x.conf.

Afterwards plain old Ubuntu became boring and I upgraded to Ubuntu 64 for fun. I had to do that x.conf crap again, but also I could never for the life of me quite get it to play flash on my system.

So off I went to Ubuntuforums where I sggested that they made those sort of things easier...I wasn't even rude or anything (is that hard to believe or what? By the way, this thread was started in the testimonials section...). To my blatant surprise I was called a number of things, including "lazy" and "unwilling to learn". I was told to go back to Windows with my "Windows mentality" because Linux wasn't for me.

So that was exactly what I did. Although I still keep Ubuntu on my system and peep in from time to time.

What am I trying to say here? I prefer Windows because I can get things done, and have a little fun without having to battle with my OS and configure text files(except with PHP, but that's actually straighforward). At least when I go on the support forums I don't get attitude and get called dumb just because I run into a problem (God Forbid!).

I use Arch Linux. I just find *nix a lot easier than windows in regards to programming, servers, etc. For example, when I want a new lib it's as easy as pacman -Sy <lib> . I can be *almost* 100% sure that the library is now installed and fully functional, while on windows, I don't have that certainty.

Though some have complained that *nix is hard, it's not, as long as you're willing to learn and like a challenge. Granted, sometimes you just want things to "work" and don't really care about the knowledge you would not accrue if it was easier.

Don't judge Linux solely on your experience with Ubuntu and its respective community. The Gentoo and Arch Linux forums are populated by extremely knowledgeable members who try to avoid posting "RTFM" as much as possible.

I personally run dual boot Win Xp and Fedora 8

For those who want a version of linux that is VERY user friendly, try Freespire

I know Linspire/Freespire is bagged by Linux traditionalists, but it will be the type of Linux distro that could bring it to the masses