I'm planning to switch to Linux, Is ubuntu as bad as every budy says it is?

There's alot of debate other whether ubuntu is as reliable as people say it is. If i were to make the switch using ubuntu, what am i in for?

Sadly, unless you are computer-savvy, you can waste a lot of time trying to make hardware devices run properly such as WiFi. I'm running a 64-bit computer and have many issues with hardware compatibility. Also, many important programs are Windows only compatible. The Microsoft development tools are vastly superior in some areas. Some programs are cross-platform, however, many are limited to the Windows platform.

I'd say that Ubuntu is a fun operating system. If you can accomplish what you need to do with Linux and your available hardware, then I would say go for it. Open Source office is not as complete as Microsoft Office, however is it very usable and it's free. I would use Ubuntu a lot more if I had compatible hardware for WiFi for my laptop.

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 is extremely powerful. As a developer, I find the features compelling. The WCF allows us to communicate effectively between platforms abstracting out many of the most difficult developer tasks. Microsoft is hard to beat, but Ubuntu is very usable within limits.

There is a lot of debate? I've never heard this debate of which you speak. You mean amongst only those people who use Windows right?

Dude, I've been using Ubuntu exclusively as my desktop and workstation for a couple of years now. Prior to that it was Fedora, SuSE, RedHat, Slackware, solaris, ultrix, unix, risc, a long list.

The easiest way to find out is to get a "live" distribution of ubuntu. You boot it from cd-rom and it runs entirely off the removable disc and won't alter your system at all. Live distros can't write to disk.

Many people swear by ubuntu.. it's a matter of choice. Personally I would go for a fedora redhat distro.. but that's just me.