Why oh why oh why? ... Tell me why, oh why

[MyWorld]

Windows... 30 minutes

I'm not sure what PC you are using but a Windows install takes way more than 30 minutes. It takes 45-50 minutes just for the OS to install (and heaven forbid you do a normal format and not a quick one), then around an hour or so to install the drivers (put in CD/download drivers, install, reboot, repeat process many, many times over... gfx driver, reboot, network driver, reboot, sound, reboot, printer, reboot, pointing device/keyboard, reboot) and essential apps (anti-virus, anti-spyware, acrobat reader, browser, flash, etc.), then we have not yet installed any office/productivity or media applications...

In less than an hour you can have Ubuntu installed with EVERYTHING you need, no swapping CD's, no hunting for drivers (generally), just click one update button after the initial installation and you are done.

Anyway, not picking a fight, just saying.
Congrats on getting the hang of Gentoo, now every other distro out there should be a walk in the park!
http://en.gentoo-wiki.com/wiki/Gentoo_maintenance <-- Must read!

 

[koffiejunkie]

then around an hour or so to install the drivers (put in CD/download drivers, install, reboot, repeat process many, many times over... gfx driver, reboot, network driver, reboot, sound, reboot, printer, reboot, pointing device/keyboard, reboot)

What version of Windows are you running? I hate to defend the evil empire, but I recently installed Windows 7 64bit from the retail DVD on my two month old ASUS laptop and the only driver I had to install was nVidia. Everything else worked out of the box.

and essential apps (anti-virus, anti-spyware, acrobat reader, browser, flash, etc.), then we have not yet installed any office/productivity or media applications...

Different strokes for different folks, I guess. The default Ubuntu install leaves me with a lot of installing to do for my "office" job.

In less than an hour you can have Ubuntu installed with EVERYTHING you need, no swapping CD's, no hunting for drivers (generally), just click one update button after the initial installation and you are done.