From 1996 to 2003, I used Linux on my primary laptop. After that, I switched to OSX. I got a Latitude for my wife a year ago, and it runs Microsoft XP. I have had to use it frequently, and I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with the stability of XP. I would never again use Linux on my primary latpop - I don't agree that it is ready for the desktop. For example, I don't want to have to patch my kernel to make my laptop suspend to disk. I don't want to have to mess with countless configuration files to make my video card work. I don't want to have to compile kernel modules to get my wireless card working. I really don't have the patience for all this anymore :-( You could say that OSX has spoilt me. For now, I plan on going with XP - coupled with Cygwin, I think I should be able to get my work done, and I will be able to use iTunes natively :-) Besides, I also want to develop some tools using Visual Studio .NET - other IDEs don't seem to impress me (so far).