Not comparing with apples with apples...

I'm so sick of this stupid argument.

The "Windows just works, and you have to mess around to make Linux work" people are missing the point.

If I buy a new PC with, say, Vista on it, it will just work. If then in a year or two, I try to upgrade to Windows 7 it may well work. But there's a good chance it won't go smoothly, and I'll have to spend hours trawling the net finding the drivers I want.

If I were to buy a new PC with Linux, it will also just work. And if I try to upgrade later, it may well go smoothly - but it might not, and I'll have to do a bit of work.

Blimey, even Apple has this problem. I know someone with a MAC who upgraded to Snow Leopard, and ran into a couple of issues.

So please, stop saying Windows just works. It doesn't. Buying a machine with a pre-installed O/S just works. And that's because the computer manufacturers have done all the hard work for you.