Hey guys.
So, I finally got off my butt and did it--backed up my music and some other random junk, then wiped the hard drive, partitioned it and set it up.
I'm now dual booting between Ubuntu Linux and Windows XP Home Edition.
And really, now that I have something to compare Windows to directly...well, I'm kind of disappointed in it.
Linux set up in about an hour, installed all of the drivers automatically (except my wireless card, whose manufacturer didn't make Linux drivers, so I had to install them manually, which wasn't nearly as hard as it sounds). Upgrading to the latest versions of all my software was easy--took two clicks, less than three minutes and no reboots.
In the end, I had to reboot Linux once, after I'd installed the drivers for my wireless card. Not because the system needed the boot, but because I hadn't plugged the card in yet, so I had to turn off the computer to do so.
Installing new programs was similarly easy to the system upgrading process--I just open Synaptic Program Manager, the default program managing app in Ubuntu, scroll to the program I want, sorted by category, click the install button. That's it--Ubuntu automatically downloads, installs and updates my application menu. Plus, the software's all free. I've got a 3D modeling program, an image editor, an office suite, a ton of games, an instant messenger, a web browser, and there's a lot more out there. All free.

Then, to Windows.
Now, I tried to be understanding. I mean, XP's a pretty old OS, relatively. Ubuntu 6.06 is less than a year old, XP is over five.
But still, it took SEVEN HOURS, THIRTEEN REBOOTS and THREE WINDOWS GENUINE ADVANTAGE VALIDATIONS.
It still doesn't have all my drivers fixed--The wireless driver is on the fritz and I get a cruddy connection and the universal media adapter installed by default in my computer doesn't work at all. Linux had no problem with it, but apparently it's too much for Windows--the OS the adapter was designed for.
Ugh. That's really all there is to it.

That's really all it took--Now, the only reason I use Windows is to play with Photoshop (I've got the GIMP on Linux, but it isn't as powerful, and I'm not used to the interface), and to play games, because unfortunately Age of Mythology, Age of Empires II, Morrowind and Dungeon Siege II don't run (well) on Linux.

Anyway, just wanted to put that out there.