While it is not for everybody, I gave up Microsoft products all together more than a year and a half ago. I can send and receive MS Word documents if needed, and my computer _Never_ crashes. As I write this, it has not crashed in six weeks, and even then, it was due to a dead processor fan which needed replacement.

My distribution of choice is Debian GNU/Linux. It is the only true "Free" linux, and the apt package manager is far superior to anything else.

Here's a list of applications I've found to be essential for running Linux:

XMMS - Multimedia (MP3) Player:
http://www.xmms.org

Lopster - Napster/OpenNap Client in GTK+:
http://lopster.sourceforge.net

Window Maker - By far the best lightweight Window Manager:
http://www.windowmaker.org

Eterm - Gotta love those transparent terminals:
http://www.eterm.org

Personally, I run Debian's Testing branch, Woody. It is a little more up to date, and really needs very little work. I almost always run the newest kernel release, and right now, I'm on 2.4.17. It runs very well, with 2 soundcards, 2 ethernet cards, video capture, and my accelerated Voodoo3. Although it is only a Pentium II 350Mhz, It is plenty fast for my needs.

Over the years, I've gathered quite a theme collection off the 'net. These are all WindowMaker themes, but you can certainly use the backgrounds for whatever you like. My archive of almost 100 good themes is available here.