The question is, are you a geek wanting to learn linux? I use both. Windows
in my job and linux as default on my personal pc at home. Because i am a
geek and wanted to LEARN linux, i use the developers preferred Distro... Gentoo.
I also have Ubuntu installed. Ubuntu is the easiest distro for any linux noob. It
has a very good and easy installation cd/dvd and works on just about any
old/weak hardware. It is very automated and bloated just like windows.
Ubuntu also comes with an installer called Wubi that allows you to install
Ubuntu in Windows so you can try it. This obviously is not in my opinion
a better solution then to try it from the Livedvd with no install.
On the other hand if you want to LEARN linux, i would recommend Gentoo.
It is based on building EVERYTHING from source code, manually editing your
config files, manually building your partitions, building your own kernel and
tuning it for your specific setup/hardware. There is also a pre compiled
flavor of Gentoo called Sabayon that has an awesome LiveDVD. This
LiveDVD like Ubuntu 'bloated' comes with Compiz. If your not familiar with
Compiz/Beryl, IT alone makes Linux worth looking into.
My current Compiz 'OpenGL' desktop...
You can do all the same things with any distro.
Most distro's just aren't designed for that and usually don't have the tools
installed by default. From my personal experience if you are a windows geek,
you can easily jump into a detailed Gentoo stage 1/3 install in one day
and learn more about linux then you could working with Ubuntu for a couple
of weeks. Here is an example of a Gentoo stage 1/3 install similar to what i use...
http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-696386-highlight-conrad.html
Here is one of my old videos running Compiz with WinXP running in a virtual
terminal on viewport 4.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lJZ1wnQX6s