Let's try this again. My internet blipped out right when I hit submit last time and I lost it. I'm using ZenWalk, which I think is an offshoot of the Slackware distribution. I have tried Linux Mint, Ubuntu, and a couple other distros I can't even remember, but they were all significantly slower than Windows XP on my somewhat slow, refurbished laptop. ZenWalk is basically the exception, although I've noticed videos don't play as well as with XP - they tend to run at very low FPS.
By Windows "clones" I just meant the GUI, which I realize isn't entirely accurate. I just meant I don't see anything in the way you perform tasks that make these Linux distros a compelling choice over Windows. The virtually nil risk of virus is certainly a nice perk, but I've never paid much attention to them anyway.
I don't understand how you could install it in under 30 minutes without prior knowledge; I spent 30 minutes just reading about how to install it side by side with Windows, and ended up accidentally deleting all my files regardless.
