Can't get into windows on this laptop, it has vista installed, yes, I know, so I looked for a safe way of getting to the files. It won't boot in safe mode, just gets BSOD.
So I installed Ubuntu on a 4 gig usb 2 stick.
I can get to me files no problem, so I'm moving all the important stuff to a new drive and it is finally goodbye windows, I think anyway ..
I am impressed, it is a lot faster than windows ..
I am quite impressed with it. I might do a proper install shortly, just installing the apache mysql myphp stuff is so easy with the terminal. Plenty of good advice on the net too.
Linux has come a long way. I sill don't use it as my main desktop, but do have a webserver setup (Slackware) and that's where all my automated podcast recording/downloading takes place.
Kudos to you if you make the move. When MS support for XP runs out, I'll very likely do the same.