It'd be great if I could assign Alt+F1 to the Start menu and Alt+F2 to the Windows run dialog, but that will conflict with applications that uses Alt+F1 and/or Alt+F2, such as Outlook 2007.

Gee, I've gotten myself so used to Linux shortcuts even though I'm very used to Windows.

I don't know why the creators of Gnome chose Alt+F1 for Application menu and Alt+F2 for the command window, but oh well. When I get used to Linux, I do hit the Windows key to open the Application menu, but then I too often use Alt+F1 instead.

I have always thought Linux to be an OS that requires you to think a little about what you're actually doing. Windows is more often than not a fairly easy PnP OS, whereas with Linux, knowing what you're doing is always important. If one wants to tinker with an OS, then by all means, go nuts with Linux. :)

I prefer good old Windows, because I have become lazy and don't tinker as much anymore, and for all it's intended purposes, it works just fine.

The one thing I like about linux is, it can handle a faulty hard drive a lot better than windows can

I do prefer Linux, Ubuntu Server to be precise, over other operating systems for my lan-server. However for a desktop environment it is a real pain that you can't just install applications with a double-click. If there is not compatible package or the package servers are not answering you have to build it from scratch and "oh no!" you might need newer unstable components to get it running and this will make your whole OS unstable as well and you sit there trying to figure it all out for hours (not joking here).

I have started with the old MS-DOS back when I was 7 years old. I also experienced the first versions of Windows as well as the early MAC OS stuff. A lot has changed since then but I feel Windows has now got some logic to it in the way it is constructed, there are certain similarities with UNIX but I think that is a good thing. While on the other hand Linux is still based on the same structure as UNIX from way back then and therefore has not had a lot of change in that department and I think that is where they should focus there efforts. Like with Windows they need to rewrite the whole package instead of updating the core and other components from time to time. Compare it to cars: It is like driving a 1950's Ford Galaxy and changing the engine and interior from time to time but the rest will stay the same and finding newer components that fit well will become more and more difficult.

So:

For desktop stuff and gaming: Windows XP SP3 or Windows 7

For a workstation: Windows Server 2003 or 2008

For a dedicated server: Ubuntu Server Edt. or Solaris (depending on tasks)

For desktop users that want to run linux and unix stuff but also want the ease of the double-click, go with current Mac OS 10.x

The most user friendly distro of Linux, Ubuntu, still requires some knowledge of command line arguments to get the basics done, like updating drivers, etc. It is not for casual pc user.