I prefer and run Linux. However, troubleshooting Linux issues, even on Ubuntu is a pain in the ass. The fact that Google's page rank favors older stable pages in search results is a factor. A forum post from 2004 is not the best source of information in regards to dual monitors (and xrandr). 2007 instructions for changing the default boot will be based around Grub. I shouldn't adjust ~/.bash_login in 14.10 despite what the internet says. I should use the configuration tool.

My point is that Ubuntu is complex [as is Windows] and when something doesn't run quite right, the right answer is usually hard to find and hard to recognize because it will be embedded in a culture of highly technical cross referencing. The tradeoff for going down the rabbit hole is that Linux is really powerful and flexible.

I'm loving me some Xmonad this week, but I had to root around in xkb and xmodmap and write a little haskell and read about out how to switch layout engines in Ubuntu [and then translate that into xfce based Ubuntu Studio]. It's non-trivial and requires reading stuff on the Arch Linux Wiki. Ubuntu isn't really self contained in the way Windows is.