I run Ubuntu 8.04 on an older desktop and laptop. I have XP on a newer laptop. As others have suggested, you can buy an older laptop off lease for $300 that will run Ubuntu faster than a new system will run XP or Vista.



I'm very pleased with Ubuntu, but you should know that while Ubuntu supports CGI, WMA, streaming audio, etc, it is not automatically installed with Ubuntu because Ubuntu comes as 100% open source files and some of these formats aren't. You can get them for free, but you might have to load them yourself. It's not really hard to do, but it is harder than loading the typical windows program. If you have zero computer knowledge, it'll be tough. If you buy a preloaded system, be sure to ask if it's going to run audio and video out of the box. The Dell link mentioned earlier referred to it this way.



"version 8.04 offers even more peripheral *options* such as ATI Video Graphics, Dell Wireless, FingerPrint Readers, HDMI and even better Bluetooth and MP3/WMA/WMV support"



That implies that it doesn't come that way out of the box; be sure to ask before buying.



On the other hand, it's great not have to worry about viruses or - ugh - virus software.