How does Linux stack up against Windows XP?

I always love these articles- if only to see the writers bias.

"Shortly after I lost the ALT-F-S feature in Microsoft Word last fall, I made a New Year's resolution to try out the Linux operating system.

You read right: The keyboard "save" function in Word just went away one day. I tried reinstalling Word with Office, but nothing changed. Just chalk it up to another of those famously mysterious Windows "glitches."

I wasn't sure I would want to make Linux my everyday PC, however. As fed up with Windows as I was, I understood the challenges of starting over with a new system. Over the years, I've gone from CP/M to DOS (with proprietary systems thrown in) to back and forth between Mac and Windows. Seldom in the transition do you get to take your preferences with you, and you usually face a learning curve of varying steepness.

So rather than overwrite Windows 98 with Linux, I went out and purchased a bare-bones PC, one without an operating system installed. Because my aging Windows 98 box cannot handle an XP upgrade, I obtained for Linux comparison purposes an eMachines Windows XP review computer with similar specs to the Linux box. Both machines retailed for $399. "

View: How does it stack up?