The Question (GEEK ALERT!)

Finally, after 2 days I have sound!! The Question, the most important question our generation has to face, the answer to this question will impact the very foundations of future generations. Ok, so that may be a bit dramatic, but to a certain extent it's true. The Question, Microsoft or Linux? In a society that's relying on technology and computer systems more and more, the question of whether systems should be based on a Penguin called Tux or some colorful squares is quite important. But I don't want to talk about big systems, the reason I am bringing this topic up is that recently I decided my laptop needs a makeover and that Windows ME just doesn't cut it (which is true whatever side of the argument you are on, it's just a shitty OS). I have a Toshiba 3000-100 which is a pretty fantastic laptop that shipped with Windows ME. So I decided to install Gentoo, which is a distribution or version of Linux, I had previously installed Gentoo on my old Celeron 450 to be used as a router and have a small number of server functions. This wasn't too difficult and took a couple of days to get up and fully running. It may seem like a long time, however I was compiling all sources and I could only really work on setting it up after work, so I think it was a reasonable amount of time. Installing Gentoo on my laptop was a totally different matter because on my server I didn't have to worry about small details like graphics, sound. Getting everything running on my laptop has caused me many, many headaches. One of the advantages of Linux is that pretty much everything can be tweaked, changed, optimized, molded. I'm far from being an expert on Linux however, it occurs to me that if I have trouble with my basic knowledge, I can't imagine how difficult it would be for someone who has no knowledge in computers. It took me 2 days of googleing and trial and error to get my laptop to play a nice tune when I start it up! I still have trouble when it comes to shutting down the computer, the screen goes black and just hangs there, no errors, nothing, just a black screen. It's really frustrating. After 2 weeks of installing Gentoo on my laptop it's almost at a basic stage where I have nice graphics, nice sound and some other basic features. There must be an easier way? There is, it's called Microsoft. I'm not talking about Windows ME, I'm talking about specifically Windows XP. Windows XP has it's problems, most of them caused by Linux nerds who write viruses that attack windows systems to show how insecure it is. The good thing about XP is that it just works, I installed it on my laptop and it just works, in a couple of hours I was up and running, graphics, sound, internet games, everything just worked, ok so it's 5% slower than Linux and costs a stupid amount of money but it's convenient. Which is why people prefer it. I like to think myself neutral in this question Windows or Linux, I think that both systems have their place. Even Macs have their place, every door needs a stopper and ever paper needs a weight. For now after all my effort, I'll stick to Gentoo and we'll see what it has to offer. Sorry for boring everyone ;) Toshiba 3000-100 Laptop Keyboard