I've loaded Ubuntu on Frankenputer. I love the bouncing cow screen saver.
It is more feature rich than XP in certain ways.
Some elements of it seem a little primitive though.
Still it is a very straight foreword flavor of the Linux OS.
I like it over all. I just have an issue configuring it for Wireless Networking.
I use the WPA-TKIP settings and also I have tried to use my Ethernet connection and have no idea how to configure it.
I am a little dense with Linux fort some reason.

I build my own (with occasional trouble shooting from a friend).

We usually buy AMD CPUs because the faster BUS speeds on AMD compatible MOBOs tends to be much faster. Usually we find that the comparable benchmark performance for 3D gaming gives AMD a price advantage over Intel.

However, for most of the years I have been building computers, AMD CPUs have run much hotter, requiring the purchase of additional fans.

i build my own and i perfer amd, but thats mainly because i do alot of gaming

I almost always prefer to build my own... as long as it's for me. I refuse to build a computer for anyone else anymore because of the tendency for them to think that every little issue with their system is my responsibility and that they get free tech support for life. I certainly don't mind helping out a friend, but I'm not going to spend days troubleshooting their system two years after I built it just because they think I must have given them faulty hardware.

I used to overclock quite a bit, understanding the limits of what I was overclocking and how to ensure that my overclocked machine would be stable. But now days I don't think the return for your effort is there.

I do like AMD's because of their generally better cost/speed ratio. I just make sure to put on a good heatsink and fan and replace it quickly at the first sign of failure.

I mostly built to do animation work. I had to balance the processing capabilities so that it would crunch a lot of floating decimals.

If and when I do another build her in the near future I am working with the ASRock Instaboot Motherboards. You turn on your computer and count to three. You desktop is fully up and ready to go. Look it up on the ASRock website! So far I have been very impressed with their performance and have not had one issue yet with them. I got three ASRock boards in my network. Move over ASUS!