arete, you can always install Ubuntu through Windows via
wubi. It is included in the LiveCD, and will autorun if you insert the LiveCD on Windows. Of course this way Ubuntu will run much slower than normal, that is to be expected (your mileage may vary). But it is easier to remove if you ever want to do so, since with wubi your Ubuntu installation is just like a Windows program.
At work I use Ubuntu and/or
PCLinuxOS. They are easiest for beginner (myself included). Backtrack Linux is slackware-based, which up until now I still have not felt I am ready to use it. Nowadays I only boot to Windows stricly for Windows games. In fact a few Windows games might run in Linux with
wine (
Torchlight, for example). For everything else, there's Mastercard... er, I mean Ubuntu
So yeah, I much prefer Linux over any Windows versions.