It depends on your level of computer experience.Windows looks better than some linux distributions, but can be a major resource hog, and usually comes pre-installed with a load of shareware rubbish that takes up way too much space. It has a nice GUI (Graphical User Interface), but with all those images takes up more memory than the simple Windows Classic theme. Windows is by far the most compatible platform, and most things are designed for windows, but, unfortunately, this includes viruses. Windows has an incredible amount of viruses available, and they are so easy to get its untrue.Linux is for more experienced computer users, and can be a lot harder to set up than Windows. When I tried to set up linux running by side with my XP, I accidentally erased all of my C Drive, including all of the factory settings, only to find out that I was meant to set up a separate hard drive partition for linux to work. And then Ubuntu (the linux distro that I chose) didn't recognise any of my wireless drivers, so I didn't have the internet. Luckily my laptop came with a Windows XP install CD, so I could fresh install that, but it didn't include any drivers or programs, so I had to find all of the drivers on an application CD with the worst folder tree ever... the names gave no clue as to what was inside, and there were multiple drivers for the same thing, so choosing it was a chore.If you aren't on a budget, then I would recommend getting a mac, it runs of the linux kernel, but is also optimized so that it can run Mac OS and Windows side by side, so imo that would be your best bet if you can afford it.