Still not using Linux on desktop

As much as I like Linux (I am using it to power my e-mail/web server at home), I still have not installed Linux as my desktop "du jour".

Why?

Two simple reasons (well, three really):

1) I got annoyed when Fedora stopped distributing the source code for the OS and got the royal run-around trying to find somewhere to download it. I know, I know... but I am a newbie of sorts and trying to figure out which of the damn myriad versions of the code was the one I needed was starting to get to me.

2) Codecs. Learn to love them. I have "Media Player Classic" (not Windows Media Player, thank-you-very-much) and WinAmp running on my laptop. I get a new file I can't play in either of them... not a problem... find the codec, install it, and ALL my media applications can now understand that file format. Everytime I try to view a file in Linux, I once again get the run-around trying to find a program that will interpret that particular codec.

3) Open Office. Well, I tried. And apart from the fact I couldn't find anything in the menus (OK, so I've been using MSWord for too long), the fact I couldn't get the damn thing out of "print layout view" (or whatever it is called in OOorg) and into a "bulk-editing" view really pissed me off. And I looked.

Yes, yes, I know prople are going to tell me thousands of ways to achieve the above... but look at it this way... I am an IT professional, working with MSWindow and Unix-derivatives all day... and these three simple task *really* pissed me off simply because I could not find the options. And that's it right there - I COULD NOT FIND THE OPTIONS (assuming they exist in the first place). Help files didn't. Looking through menus got boring real quick.

Bottom line, there are still a lot of improvements required to the "user experience" before Linux comes in out of the Servers and into the Desktop at my house.

May it get there soon so I can give MS the flick once and for all.

Oh, and since we're onto the wishlists... anyone know where I can find a good MSExchange Server alternative? I need to set up Sync-ing between PDAs and a Linux mail server and would rather not go down the Exchange/Outlook path.