I have to say I'm impressed. Very impressed. I installed Ubuntu 10.04 using the windows installer, wubi.

Wubi was awesome. After downloading and executing, it took just under 25 minutes to install Ubuntu including the download time! All completely automated. It didn't format my hdd or add any partitions. I had only a few prompts to answer, and now I'm dual booting Win7 and Ubuntu.
Once installed, I had to install some proprietary drivers for my video card. But I didn't have to search for them, I was actually notified right away by linux, clicked to install it, and bam! done. All of the other hardware is supported right off the bat. Including my wifi and bluetooth. The included applications were kinda lame so I started downloading more software with the built in software center. To my surprise, after installing the software, the links for the new software showed up under the applications menu. That is the first time that'* ever happened to me using linux!
Last time I used linux, the games were lame and crashed on me. So I installed Open Arena to try it out. Plays really well, so I started searching for more games. I found www.playdeb.net... awesome. Now I'm installing lotsa games.
I already installed wine but I don't know what kind of windows apps will work.

So my question is, what can I use with wine and what other applications do I need to download?

I've played with Fedora Core 6-13 without much luck. Tried the Live Ubuntu cd, it didn't fancy my taste, but then someone told me about BT4. Now that is some fun stuff to play with!

I'm running Ubuntu 10.04 as a secondary machine but the primary one I use. I have my Win7 Laptop with external monitor connected to the Ubuntu laptop with external monitor through a program called Synergy. One keyboard and mouse for both laptops. Makes for a nice powerful 4 monitor array that I can do Linux on the left half and windows on the right.

Wine is vastly improved over what it used to be and you can run a fair amount of windows applications. You for the most part have to just figure it out through trial and error. A lot of games work in Wine such as Steam games and WoW, Left for Dead, etc.

Seriously, it is just another form of Linux that is dead like all the other attempts to resuscitate it. Software availability/over any system regardless of structure. Guess you walked in in time to see it still quivering. hehehe. But it will crawl away as people get tired of yawing and walk away from it. Just like every other version for over a generation.

Linux... dead? What have you been smoking old man??

Linux currently holds over 16% market share of phone operating systems, just barely behind blackberry and expected to overtake it shortly if it hasn't already.

Mitel is switching their office phones over to run linux.

Do some research into any good web hosting company and you will find that they are running a majority of linux servers and prefer that you use them over the windows servers unless you have applications that absolutely require a windows environment.

While those geeky enough to run linux as a main os may be few and far between, there is an increasing number of manufacturers releasing linux based PC'* because for the home user who just needs to check their email and facebook, linux is perfect and easy to learn.

I've been converting people here and there and they end up loving it.

Nerds !!!

Go play with your cars or something haha

Sorry, I have to butt in here.

Linux is GREAT...for servers, phone systems, phones, and other such devices. For home use, its silly. I bought an EEE PC 701 when it first came out with Linux on it, used it for 3 months, and enjoyed it. Then promptly moved to Windows XP.

The only reason why its nice is because its free, and that'* where it stops. I tried linux on 4 occasions, and got pissed off to no end on 4 occasions, and I'm an IT engineer and went to school for IT and Management. This should have been a walk in the park.

The simple fact is that most if not all of us can very easily obtain a license for Windows XP (whether its on the back of your computer or on the back of your friend'* computer). I mentioned that I used it on my EEE PC 701, and that was quite nice. It served all of its purposes very well, and I would have kept using it were it not for small annoyances here and there and the fact that I was more comfortable.

What I hated was the fact that you have to spend WAY too much time making it work right, as a primary personal PC. Example, we tried eeebuntu for our 10" Lenovo S10e netbook. Installed fine, ran great, no sound. To get sound you have to update the kernel, which it conveniently had a built in updater, so we ran the updater. It fixed the sound, and broke the wireless, so I discovered I had to recompile the kernel to get the broadcom wireless drivers to work. I sat there in amazement. You know how difficult it is for me to install ANY drivers on a Windows XP box? I'm sure you do.

The problem is that Linux is not organized by any one group. People code their drivers and software with little regard for what they might break in the process, hence these updates. The eeebuntu forum was less than helpful as well. Wine is annoying to use because instead of your software "just running," you have to make it run.

I haven't had a virus on my XP box since 2004. My laptop has never crashed on me since I bought it, nor has my desktop, which is now 4 years old. I can install 100% of Windows XP applications with no additional effort.

I'd love to say Linux has any real benefits for me, but the simple fact is that any "increased stability" over Windows XP is minimal, any "increased security" over Windows XP is irrelevant at least for my use, and past that its nothing more than having to take a longer road to get to the same destination. I used it for a while for the novelty of it, just so I could call myself a smart Linux user, but that novelty quickly faded away once I realized that regardless of the learning curve, half the things I did required more work than they did with Windows XP. Its just not worth it.

Probably the biggest thing that threw me off is I'm an audiophile, and I insist on having the highest quality audio I can get, so a little while back I bought an Creative X-Fi Platinum sound card, which ran me $180. There is absolutely NO support for that sound card in Linux. Onboard sound doesn't have optical inputs and outputs, nor does it sound anywhere near as good as the X-Fi card, and I've tested them both on a side to side comparison. Its things like that, that **** me off. Any benefit Linux may have is entirely negated by the fact that I can't even install my sound card on it without spending 5+ hours trying to figure out how. With that amount of time, I could install Windows XP, download STEAM, and watch Avatar in 1080p on my 46" TV with built in DTS decoding over a fiberoptic cable. I have better things to do than spend 5x the amount of time to get stuff working right.

What I smoke isn't the public'* business or for opinion, but I assure you that in all walks of life I pursue, I only go for the better/best of everything or don't bother. So happenstance does not corral or affect my opinion. Cold hard facts and history do.

Nice written opinion Stealth. And Tommy, you know I'm not talking about everything in the world that runs on Linux. I think even some freaking toasters have it. We are talking personal computers. And Stealth lays out some very good points. Bring all the techies and nerds you want in, Ubuntu will never fly as a PC OS. It had a following like every other version and the end result is and will continue to be the same and your in Techie Denial, Joe America doesn't want to have to stitch and seam a platform in hopes of just coming close to what Windows affords them with ease. And the awesome library of software and drivers for everything under the Sun.(Not Sun MicroSystems) (hehehe) Nobody cares what their phone operates on. But as Windows brings 7 into the phone arena and Apple cranks up the heat in return, Don't expect Linux to grow other than the throwaway market. Your stating the hopes and dreams of of a group of people that don't have the strength that drives sales, basically "what people want".

I stubbornly keep XP and even though I was half tempted by "7", I know read "8" is in the works and due out in a year. As long as I can operate XP and enjoy the Internet and Security, I will stay stubborn.

I was in the same boat as all of the desktop linux doubters. But I gave it one more shot and was completely blown away! I cant believe how streamlined it is now. I've used linux on several different occasions... I still run Damn Small Linux on my original xbox. I was completely and utterly frustrated on how difficult it used to be to do something as simple as install a new application. You couldn't do it without using a kernel window.

Linux has grown into a very respectable, easy to use and honestly, beautiful operating system. I love how it boots from bios to desktop in 15 seconds. I love the new visual effects when you restore, minimize or move windows. I like that I didn't have to add another hdd or re-partition space on this one. The whole operating system sits in a 30GB img file on my ntfs Win7 drive.

Most of all, I like that I can hook up my xbox360 controller and use it for video games and it supports my cell phones blue tooth and usb connections. I don't like that I can't use my Zune, but of course Microsoft hardware won't support competing operating systems.

For those who didn't know, since OSx Apple has been using the Unix kernal. Now Google is adopting it and modifying it for their own operating system. I'm really excited about this and I think that if anyone can knock Microsoft off of it'* pedestal, it will be Google (sorry Apple). Only time will tell though. Understand, I'm not one of those 'Ooh I got something new and shiny to play with and I'll love it for this week' kinda guys. I've put this operating system through it'* paces. I've seen how horrid it used to be and love what it'* grown into.

I seriously doubt Linux has changed that much in the past 9 months. I'll give it till January before you're royally fed up with it.