my work uses xp with IE8 and Office 2003. Makes me cry a little sometimes, less about XP and more about IE and Outlook though.

They're upgrading to 7 later in the year, it's going to be a major headache with 25000 users to support.

On the 8 front, I actually don't mind it. Once I got rid of all the bullshit on the 'start menu' and just had my own stuff I actually find that I prefer it to 7 (don't hurt me) and don't feel the need to have the old start menu back.

I'd just like to see anyone develop something that can compete with Windows (no, Mac OS doesn't count, it's even worse than Windows 8). A little competition would be a great incentive for Microsoft to make a halfway usable OS. Unfortunately, the only company I could see doing that anytime soon is Google, and maybe Valve, should the planets align during a full moon.

Well Ubuntu uses by default Unity; If you don't like Metro then Unity is Ubuntu's Metro...only in much worse than Metro. If really you want to try Linux but with something that looks like a real desktop environment, then you better try Linux Mint 15. It's easy to install and configure and Cinnamon is a decent desktop environment.

Indeed! Since 2001. That's quite an accomplishment! I haven't used XP for few years, but it was/is a great OS.

Actually he'd still be running Ubuntu but with a different desktop environment and some other utilities for managing updates, backups.. In Mint's case you can choose XFCE, KDE, Mate and Cinnamon. Any Ubuntu based distro is a good choice for a newbie. Unless it's something very specific, solutions for problems that apply to Ubuntu will also work for Mint.

As for the Metro vs Unity comparison it's quite hilarious. Shows me you have not used either of them or you'd not be comparing.

Ahh fanboys... what would any community be without you?

Fuck Microsoft.

Newbie is the keyword here. Knowing that he will be using Ubuntu, Debian whatever under the hood is meaningless, Mint comes with Cinnamon pre-configured, and while it's possible to change the desktop environment on Ubuntu it's not the first thing a newbie will do.

I know it's a bit unfair for Metro, at least with Metro you only have to click on the "Desktop" tile to get rid of it and have a real desktop environment behind it, while with Unity it takes more work to get rid of it.

Not liking Ubuntu broken attempt at mimicking iOS makes me a fanboy ? interesting, then it means that the Linux community is full of fanboys.

Yes because iOS and Unity look and work alike sooooooo much. Stop trolling if you want to be taken seriously.

Luckily no one has to take my word for it (or yours). Just searching for various distro names on Youtube will turn out videos that show how they look and work. Also, many have live images which means that he can try them out without installing anything.

And it's me the fanboy...

Certainly looks like it. Intentionally trying to mislead people with bogus comparisons just to help you prove a point is rather silly.

Once again, how does not liking something (and not liking Unity is hardly anything special even among some of the most avid Ubuntu supporters) makes you an fanboy ?

It has nothing to do with your liking or disliking a certain thing, it's about how you express it. Making ridiculous claims trying to prove a point you're trying to make is doing it wrong.

Like what ?

That Unity is Ubuntu attempt at having a one size fits all desktop environment that can be used on various devices like what Apple did and what Microsoft tries desperately to do; that's not a claim, that's a fact.

That a lot of peoples don't like Unity and that it caused a lot a controversy, very similar to the one caused by Win8's Metro; not a claim either but a fact too.

Or that you can bypass most of Metro ridiculousness simply by going to the desktop and ignoring it's there while, if you don't like Unity, there is no way to do that except installing another desktop environment; once again not a claim.

Thanks! I'll be sure to look into it, Checked Ubuntu from the live CD and it's... well, different :)