I am writing in Libreoffice 4.0.2.2 on Linux Mint 15 with Cinnamon 2.0. The combination beats all previous versions of Linux and Windows, except for Windows XP 64. Here the reasons why.
Windows XP?
Windows XP is supported by most open source projects and I can continue to use my old Windows XP 64 machine for anything software related. Some hardware suppliers still supply drivers for XP while others have dropped support. XP is no longer viable for new machines. XP is no longer a valid choice.
My XP machine works for months at a time without problems and wins for reliability on old hardware. XP runs some programs not available on Linux and wins an ongoing place among my existing computers but not on any new computer.
I used the XP machine for Web development then one of the critical Apache/MySQL/PHP software trio decided to not support XP. At that point I moved the last of my Web development onto Linux. Some aspects of Linux on the desktop are painful compared to XP. Linux beats XP as a Web server but not as a desktop Web development operating system.
Linux In General
Almost every bit of software I use is free open source. It all works on Linux and most of it works on Windows. Some of the best software works on Windows because it started on Windows. Filezilla is the best FTP program and Filezilla is from Windows. For me, Linux became viable when Filezilla developed a Linux version.
Winmerge is the best of breed file and directory comparison program on the planet but is currently only on Windows, a strong reason to stay on Windows. Meld is the closest Linux equivalent and is still way behind Winmerge. Meld works for small projects then slows down, or crashes, on medium size projects. Winmerge continues to operate fast and efficently on projects many times larger than what Meld can handle.
The Filezilla and Winmerge examples are typical of open source. A few years ago, Meld physically could not do what Winmerge does but open source/Linux/Unix bigots kept telling lies about Meld being a complete substitute. Meld could do only a tiny fraction of what Winmerge could do and only for a tiny fraction of the file/directory size. Over the years Meld improved. Meld can now handle most of my projects without crashing but it is still incredibly slow on the large projects and still crashes on some tasks. Give Meld another year or two to catch up.
Linux developers seem to deny the truth for years while secretly trying to upgrade their software to the standard of the competition. It is their lack of openess about development direction that made Linux so hard to use on the desktop, you could not plan for now or the future.
Today most of the software is comparable. Apple went through the process of pretending to be better while quietly replacing their inferior hardware with the hardware used by Windows. Linux is almost there. They started by replacing servers. There is absolutely no reason for any new server to use any operating system other than Linux. The desktop is 99% there.
LibreOffice is a good example of the 99% replacement syndrome. For general use, LibreOffice replaces Microsoft Office and LibreOffice works on every useful operating system. Microsoft Office has some extra features for specific professional uses. You can replace Microsoft Office with LibreOffice for some people but not all. Think of an office with dozens of people using Microsoft Office and some of the people using Visio for simple illustrations and one person using Visio for advanced illustrations. You cannot easily replace Visio for the one specialist. If you replace Microsoft Office with LibreOffice for everyone else, you get compatibility problems until everyone can revamp every document into LibreOffice. The conversion could take a year. You have ongoing problems incorporting the special illustrations from Visio into LibreOffice documents. The result is a mess for a long time.
The best approach is to convert people from proprietary software to open source while still on Windows then identify the people and applications you cannot convert. In most cases, you can convert all the people in a department then replace Windows with Linux on the next hardware upgrade.
Windows Vista
Windows Vista was almost dead when released. Vista worked when installed by the manufacturer on fast new hardware but failed for upgrades and was too slow for most existing hardware. The security changes were a disaster. Vista was the biggest single cause of conversions to Linux. Vista was a loser.
Windows 7
Windows 7 returned Windows to XP reliability and efficiency, almost. Windows 7 had problems upgrading machines from Vista, you were better off wiping Vista and starting fresh. Many people replaced Vista with XP then successfully upgraded XP to Windows 7.
Windows 7 had some of the Vista style performance problems and you could switch off fancy effects in the user interface to restore XP style performance on older hardware. Windows 7 with effects switched off is equivalent to some of the Linux user interfaces with effects switched off.
Windows 7 had some of the Vista permissions problems and had hard to find ways to fix permissions. Windows 7 is about equal to Linux on security difficulty.
If Microsoft had delivered Windows 7 instead of Vista, about a hundred million people would still be using Windows instead of switching to Linux or OSX.
Windows 8
Windows 8 starts with the Metro user interface and you can switch metro off. If you have only a touch screen, use Metro with the big flat buttons. Apple liked Microsoft Metro so much that Apple copied it and called it OSX 7.
If you have a real keyboard instead of a touchscreen, switch off Metro. Some computers have both keyboard and touchscreen. You can switch to Metro at any time once you learn where the control is hidden.
Windows 8 is about equal to the Ubuntu Unity interface with users split between loving and hating the change. I hate Unity on every device, touch or not, small or large. Windows 8 Metro is better than Unity for touch only devices on a wide range of screen sizes. Windows 8 wins on touch screens and can switch to a Windows 7 interface for everything else.
OSX
OSX was pretty and annoying, sort of like Windows Vista. You had to work hard to make OSX as good as Linux at a time when Linux was traling Windows, making OSX a distant third.
iOS 7 copies the Windows 8 Metro interface in an attempt to catch up to Microsoft. If you have a touch screen, the iOS 7 user interface is about equal to Windows 8. Apple have not offered the iOS 7 clone of Windows 8 for OSX. Linux is a better choice because you can choose the user interface you want.
Ubuntu Linux With Unity
Ubuntu was the leading version of Linux for the desktop then they replaced the user interface with their Unity software. The first version of unity was as bad as Microsoft Vista. The current version is better but works efficiently only on touchscreens of a medium size in a landscape format.
For everything else, Unity still produces problems with layout. On large screens, you are forced to search for things that should be there on the screen. The Unity interface has all the problems of Windows 8 metro and OSX without the options to fix the problems.
The next version of Unity might finally have good user customisation but do not bet on it, Canonical, the people behind Unity, are moving the other way, removing user options.
The one big change in the future is the Ubuntu phone. A telephone manufacturer in India is about to release a smartphone based on Ubuntu. The Chinese government is promoting Ubuntu in China and may release an Ubuntu based smartphone. An Ubuntu based desktop makes sense when you have an Ubuntu smartphone.
Ubuntu Linux with Gnome (no effects)
I tried replacing Ubuntu Unity with Gnome then switched effects off. The result worked for Ubuntu 13.04 and was a disaster after an upgrade to Ubuntu 13.10.
I reinstalled Ubuntu 13.10 from scratch but the process was messy and failed frequently with operating system level errors. I gave up and installed Linux Mint 15 with the Cinnamon user interface. Linux Mint 15 is based on Ubuntu 13.04 with Cinnamon 1.8 preinstalled instead of Unity.
Linux Mint with Cinnamon 2.0
ILinux Mint 15 is based on Ubuntu 13.04 with some nice improvements. Linux Mint 15 with the Cinnamon user interface has Cinnamon 1.8 preinstalled instead of Unity. I installed Linux Mint 15 with Cinnamon and found only one trivial error during installation.
After installation, I immediately upgraded Cinnamon to version 2.0 and ran into only one slight hiccup during the changeover. The first time you start version 2.0, it is a little bit slow at first. After the first start, it is almost as fast as the fastest alternative and faster than most of the alternatives.
Linux Mint With MATE
MATE is an alternative to Cinnamon based on Gnome 2 instead of Gnome 3. MATE is a bit primative compared to Cinnamon and is trailing Cinnamon development. MATE is slightly faster for some things and could be a good alternative in a year or two. For now it is less useful than Cinnamon 1.8 and Cinnamon 2.0 is already available.
I can see a speed difference between MATE and Cinnamon on my little netbook but not on my ultrabook. The limitations of MATE are not work the speed difference.
Linux Mint With Xfce
Xfce is lighter in weight than MATE/Cinnamon/Unity, almost everything. I can see the speed difference between Xfce and MATE on my little netbook but not on my ultrabook.
Xfce has significant differences to Cinnamon. I am using Cinnamon on my Ultrabook. It is too difficult to switch between Cinnamon and Xfce. I may sell the netbook instead of trying to switch back and forth. I might also give Cinnamon 2.0 a test on the netbook because 2.0 is supposed to be faster than 1.8 and may make Cinnamon viable on the netbook.
Xfce is improving but, like MATE, is improving to slow for me.
Android
Android is a strong alternative version of Linux for smartphones with touchscreens. Android works n the desktop but is oriented to touchscreens, not real keyboards and large scale desktops. The Android installation process does not cover all my configurations of computers and I am not going to use Android on just one or two computers.
Debian
Debian Linux is a good base for Ubuntu and other derivatives but is too crude for desktop use. You end up installing all the extra things installed by ubuntu and Linux Mint. You might choose Debian for a server. Start with Linux mint on the desktop.
Red Hat? Fedora?
Red Hat Linux was the big competitor to Debian for corporate server use. Fedora is their spinoff for desktop use. Fedora is comparable to Linux Mint with a different range of user interfaces. Both Fedora and Red Hat struggle to keep market share.
CentOS is a cleaned up version of Red Hat for servers. CentOS used to be the main choice for servers and is losing out to Ubuntu. Forget CentOS, Red Hat, and Fedora.
Conclusion
Linux Mint 15 with Cinnamon 2.0 is the winner for new computers and Windows XP is an equal for old computers. Everything else needs extra work.
Linux Mint has the widest range of user interfaces. If you have a chance to test them all side by side, use Linux Mint with the user interface of your choice.
Windows 8 is a close second when you know how to switch Metro off and on. You might choose Windows 8 if you have a Windows 8 based smartphone.
Windows 7 is a viable repalcement for XP when your XP machine dies but you may have to perform a clean install of 7 instead of an upgrade. For most people, Linux Mint is already an alternative you should try before buying Windows 7.
Ubuntu was a good choice before Unity. You can replace Unity on Ubuntu but the result is unreliable. Linux Mint is a better choice.
OSX is another choice but you have to install extra software to make it as good as Ubuntu or Linux Mint.