[Vertigo]

Typical post of a clueless Windows user. Windows Updates can be easily configured to not reboot at night, hey you can even configure it to not update at all! Same with popups about drivers and the like. Turn them off, only takes two seconds.

If XBMC is crashing to the desktop, then you've got faulty hardware, plain and simple. How is that Windows' fault? Let me see....it isn't.

Waking from sleep and video issues? Wut? You've done something wrong.

I've tried various Linux distros on various machines, and boy is that one unfriendly method of running XBMC. OpenELEC, where do I start. Takes an hour to get the USB stick working, then it doesn't install properly. If it does, then it's another hour to maybe get the sound working. If it works at all. Forget it if you move your HTPC and need to change from HDMI to analogue sound, that's another 30 minutes of fruitless Googling.
Tried running it on Ubuntu, that wasn't anywhere near as horrible, but same issue with sound.

Just shows what you know, and I dont mean that in an offensive way. While *you* may have to google 30 minutes to find out how to run alsamixer or make a bootable linux USB stick, *I* probably would have to google at least as long to find out how to disable all those damn windows popups (seriously, how do you ?), schedule updates, figure out how to install from USB, etc.

Just because most people are much more familiar with windows than with linux doesnt make windows inherently superior, because it clearly isnt. But if things dont work as expected out of the box, then its probably easier for those individuals who are only or mostly familiar with windows. I wouldnt hold that against linux though.

[lockdown571]

To each their own. I've been using HTPCs for years, mostly on Windows, and OpenELEC has been a godsend. Getting a Windows HTPC to run smoothly isn't always as easy as it sounds. I've probably pulled half of the hairs out of my head over the horribly broken Catalyst software for ATI cards. If Windows works for you, then great! Keep on using it. I haven't had the same luck. OpenELEC works perfectly for me, though, and I have no plans to return to Windows in the near future. There's really no right answer to which is better.

[bac522]

Well all I know is I struggled to get XBMC to run on a Commodore 64, so I decided to try an Apple IIe and got no further, not to mention the green monochrome monitor wasn't cutting it!. So I tried using an Intel 80286 running at 12MHz and that failed miserably...Window 3.1 just sucks for XBMC!

Finally decided on AMD Athlon II 3.1GHz X2 running Ubuntu with an Nvidia GeForce 210 and now XBMC runs as smooth as silk!!!

[/sarcasm off]