People have been telling me to read STR for ages, but I've never got around to it. Pascal just went to the site while I was shoulder surfing - and thus I discovered this review of Ubuntu:

One of the great things about Windows is the ease of obtaining powerful utilities and applications. In addition to hundreds of great titles available on CD-ROM you can download awesome shareware applications: simply click on Setup.exe and most installers will instantly deploy your chosen software, sometimes with cool bonus productivity apps that enhance your browsing experience. In comparison with Microsoft’s common-sense approach, pandemonium reigns on the Linux platform.

The only way to install software is via a tool called the 'package manager' which is confusingly also called 'Synaptic'. This works according to a similar principle as a communist super-market: You have a limited range of software which has been chosen on a purely ideological basis rather than functionality. If you want to 'think different', it’s tough-luck again: Another obvious fail for the ‘contender’.

To make matters worse, in order to install an application you must be 'root' which entails memorizing a series of confusing passwords. By contrast Windows allows any user to install the applications they need to do their work - a wise productivity gain that endears the flexible NT platform to IT departments the world over.

The rest is good reading too. Very informative! I'm switching away from Ubuntu forthwith.