Well, I'm not going to RAID stripe those disks!

Linux works well on my current rig - It actually gets faster over time because it caches applications in RAM as you use them. I guess XP does the same - it's just not immediately obvious when looking at RAM usage...

I've thought about converting completely to Linux in the past, but WINE really doesn't cut the mustard with games - Battlefield 2 (my favourite game for a long time) has only really become playable through Cedega in the last few months, which is terrible given that it's 2½ years old. It's a similar story with the Orange Box - you lose graphical features because WINE doesn't fully support DX9 yet.

Compiz Fusion, on the other hand, coupled with the nVidia driver is just amazing - from what I've seen, it blows Aero away. Admittedly, not having used Vista, I can only go on what I've seen, though. Furthermore, I'm sure that MS will open up the platform to 3rd party developers eventually, and will be able to rely on a massive user and developer base to ensure rapid development of proper Windows eye candy. Till then, though, I think Linux is leading the way in terms of interface enhancements and desktop functionality. Im sticking with XP because, like you said, it'll be a total bugger to go back once Vista is installed - a couple of my mates have had huge problems getting Vista off their laptops because the manufacturer hasn't released proper XP drivers.