XP/Linux Partitions

[James]

I started with Linux way back in the day on Slackware. Slackware was great, in that it forced me to build all of my own software, learn about dependencies, etc. But Ubuntu is nice because it's updated regularly, and it more or less just works. It's super easy to maintain and manage as well. I even went with Ubuntu on my personal server for awhile. Ultimately, my work was using CentOS, so the current incarnation of my personal server is running CentOS as well.

I still with Ubuntu on the personal side of things because it's quick and easy to find what you want/need to make it a very useful platform. I think I started using it back on 8.04, or 7.10 maybe? Either way, I've been using it for a few years, and haven't found a reason to switch. Fair warning: The biggest complaint with Ubuntu is the desktop window manager. I prefer installing Ubuntu Server edition, and installing Fluxbox as the windows manager. It's extremely lightweight and customizable, but not very user friendly at all. (Until you hack on it for a few hours). So my reasons for staying might not be worthwhile if you use the stock desktop interface.

*Edit: And nowadays I use ext4 for all my linux filesystems for personal PC's. For the longest time I was using XFS from my slackware days, but now I use ext4.