Linux is not, at all, like punching myself in the face! Linux saved me from buying a new laptop for 3 years! And I could still be using that laptop if I wanted to! I had a cpu clock problem that was a result from overheating, on windows it shut the whole computer down, no matter what I was doing... On linux the problem was diagnosed very rapidly and I was able to get a fix for it on the ubuntu forum!
I'm thinking about installing ubuntu back again, it's free, it's safe, it's community driven, it's better for most software engineers... Linux is life linux is love!
There is a small learning curve, most people are used to windows, that is the only reason they don't use linux based OS,
I installed it on my grandfather's laptop since it is more virus resistant, everytime he has a problem he phones me, no one else knows how to work the with the damn thing..