Well, I'm told that Linuix has some really stable and great packages. Its something different and I would like to try it out.
However, most of the programs I use for school/work require windows, plus I don't really have the time to learn about a new OS so I'm sticking to windows.
Ubuntu 8.10 has OOo [a word prossessor, presentation thingy, a draw feature, and a spreadsheet][Word,Powerpoint,Publisher,Excell] You can even save in Microsoft Office format, you could also get a 1gb sandisk cruzer[you can get OOo 2.0 on U3[you dont need to install it to HD] Just save in OOo or Microsoft Office, and take it to go.
Thats what I do!

It works great!

Ubuntu 8.10 has mozilla firefox. I would get mizilla's thunderbird for EMAIL, but Ubuntu comes with something satisfactory.
DONT USE WINDOWS FOR EVER... GET A LIFE!