> In his defense, setting up partitions for a Linux install *is* pretty daunting if > you've never done it before. At least back when I first did it, it wasn't exactly > clear what they were all for, or if the default settings were adequate. Sad to say, > Ubuntu is probably the most user friendly distro of the lot. If you can't hack it > with Ubuntu, you're unlikely to have any better luck anywhere else.
I dunno, I just don't get that. Maybe it was daunting 2-3 years ago, but these days it's about as point-and-drool as installing Windows 7 is, and more so than installing Windows XP. I still remember when you had to create like 4-5 partitions for everything ranging from / to /home to /swap to /boot to even more partitions than just that.
I'm not particularly enthusiastic about Linux in general given that Windows does everything I need it to do, but I've heard - and completely believe - stories about people whose grandparents are able to use Linux without issues since they just use it as a generic Internet-connected box. If all you care about is browsing the web and maybe some other simple stuff, then Linux works fine once you get over the (minor) bump in the road of installation.