Sure it's good as a server OS, and there's Android (which has Google and a bunch of other companies behind it), but all of the desktop/laptop variants I've messed around with for end users, like Ubuntu, have been absolute garbage. It's not compatible with anything, it's unstable, it's slow, and you're constantly having to go into the command line to do basic shit. The main function of an end user OS is to be compatible with hardware and software that people use, and in that sense it fails miserably. In fact I would say it's the worst OS I've used, which would explain why it has less than 1% market share, and all of those netbooks and walmart computers with Linux either ended up returned or formatted with Windows installed. XP is old as shit now, but I would take it any day over Linux. I only say this because I messed around with Ubuntu over the weekend and just came away from it disgusted.
What version of Ubuntu were you running? To be honest I don't like it as much since Unity came along and tend to use KDE now when using new releases. I still have a 10.04 USB key which is fantastic for when things go wrong in Windows. I use 10.04 for when I need to run things like presentations on screens around the office as it can run on almost anything and unlike Windows XP which now has so many service packs it doesn't chew up much RAM. We are running a VMware server environment now so don't mind using the command line tools at all and many years ago our accounts system used to run on UNIX so I have gotten used to it. Seeing as you only use an OS as an end user you have probably got used to the ease of Windows and as a result I can understand why you might not like it. Saying that the Software Center in Ubuntu makes it very easy to find and install packages, something that Windows doesn't have.
I used Linux for everything other than writing papers in the mid 90s, as the alternative was the wretched Windows 95, but I haven't messed with it in ages. Maybe it's really gone downhill since then, but I don't remember having many problems with Linux systems.
I've been a Linux zealot somewhere between 1995 and 2000. Later then, most of the software I've been using there migrated to Windows (gcc, latex, mysql & postgres, gimp and others) also XP came out which was finally quite decent OS from Microsoft. As for now, there are FEW advantages over Windows but there are more disadvantages. I've also tried to develop basic stuff using the X server and what's funny is that the most often used development tools are Java and Mono, the former is OS agnostic and the latter comes from Windows. native Linux development tools suck balls.
It is the same thing! When you install the server version you are just installing the OS without the GUI with a few added server tools. If you run... sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop You get the GUI. You get some server stuff by default with the server version but again as an example if you want to run SSH on the desktop version then you just.. sudo apt-get install openssh-server Its not like Windows Server where it is very different from the desktop versions. As I said before I don't use Linux for any real purposes on a desktop other than if I have an old PC I need to do a job but its great for fixing Windows when it kills itself from time to time. You should always have a Linux USB key on standby.
The only real benefits to Linux that I have witnessed is allowing multiple simultaneous user sessions, and the workspaces feature. But with the cost of monitors nowadays workspaces has become less necessary. Ubuntu trying to be easy to use actually winds up being way more bloated than Windows. If all you want to do is surf the web though, something like lightweight Arch Linux will still work out better than Windows in terms of speed. Of course, I tried the new Gnome3 desktop, and it looks like a fucking gay tablet OS you are supposed to use on your PC.
The Linux desktop is mounds of shit piled on top of each other, litterally. It's disorganized and unprofessional. But it's great for rollerblading hackers. If you try to install a printer or wireless network on Linux, there's a strong chance you will fail.
This also works the other way around - most people who sucesfully install Linux and are able to log into it think they are rollerblading hackers.