well i've tried vista ultimate at one point (yes i downloaded it for reviewing purposes only :p )
ansd i had a language choise apparently. i don't recall if it was an oem though.

Oh yes, Ultimate has multi-language optons, its the only one that does

He was referring to the fact that ONLY Ultimate has that option, and that it was worth the cash solely because of that option.

actually, it WASN'T really worth the cash just for that option, but i had no other choice ;-)
Maybe if ultimate had had any other worthwhile features then ultimate wouldn't be such a rip-off.
The real salt in the wounds was when the did the win7 preorder discount, and didn't include an ultimate version. Frankly, I think that they should include win7 as a "ultimate extra", because they've given bugger all else...

Yeah, you compile everything in Gentoo. I've found that it's really similar to Arch. It has a nice package manager that does all the work for you. You can enable some CFLAGS and stuff so stuff that is compiled is optimized for your CPU (the difference isn't that big).
You can just do: emerge firefox, and it will download and compile firefox and whatever else it depends on. There are also use flags, so if you want to compile Pidgin, but don't want the Gtk gui, you can disable Gtk, so it won't pull in all the Gtk dependencies like Arch will.

Performance is a huge advantage for Linux. Ever noticed how after 6 months to a year Windows runs much slower than it did initially? That doesn't happen on Linux. You don't even need to reboot when you update stuff. If you run a server, you can have uptimes on Linux in the years. Windows is really annoying about rebooting.
Linux has a better software install method. Instead of going to mozilla.com to get firefox, pidgin.im to get pidgin, or apple.com to get itunes, you can get all that from a package manager (except itunes, but there are alternatives). A package manager will get you 99% of the software you want, you just search for what you want, click install and it does the rest.

What? Surely you jest, there was microsoft tinker and... microsoft tinker. Did I mention microsoft tinker?

Actually mine don't, bit of regular maintenance eliminates that problem. The reboot on update stuff is annoying but they're not that common unless its updates to core level resources
I have to say I DO like the RPM style addons, kind of similar to windows update in a way but for apps as well as updates. Still have to do research on the stuff you're installing though, had a few issues with RPMs not working quite right and not having good descriptions
Still I've also had 'the green light's on, it must be working' morons clicking next next next and breaking my production server, I guess minor package incompatibility is inconsequential compared to that...

More out of curiosity than competitiveness, I just checked the uptime for my dedicated download pc, its approaching 4 months without a reboot

I assume it's running Windows, which means you're about 4 months behind on security updates. :V
Seems like everytime I boot up Vista it nags me to reboot because it decided to update without asking me.

Gentoo Linux x86_64 for several years, dual-booting with Win 7 Pro 32 bit RTM, recently upgraded from XP SP3.

Windows XP Pro.
Tried Vista and hated it. Thus, will never use it again. I'll be getting an Ultimate version of Windows 7 once it's released but even then, it'll be my secondary OS set to dual boot with Windows XP.

I run windows vista x64 here. Love the start menu search and the ability to click on the folder's name in the address bar in explorer.
I've left UAC for added security. Only minor/cosmestic tweaks applied, removing the shortcut arrow for shortcuts on desktop and changed the power button on the start menu to actually shut down the PC.

I do have Ubuntu Netbook Remix on my, well, netbook (ASUS Eee 900) and I just love the ease of installing almost any regular application via packet manager.

+1 i'll give reps to every vista hater :p
i'll never give up xp untill they have a fully working alternative OS again

There were a few others as well, but indeed, nothing useful (I do prefer my desktop backgrounds to be static, thank you very much DreamScene, I'm not much into poker either, and the default Windows sounds suit me fine with a couple of them turned off).

I think it's better to be sorry than flipped the fuck out, because of shit I've never had any use for before, continuously nagging me. But that's probably just me.

Win XP Home Edition and they will have to use the Jaws of Life to pry it out of my cold, dead hands after I tried Vista. I hope 7 is better and, if it is any better, then I will happily install it once I get the funds to build a gaming rig for newer games while keeping my old rig for GOGs and the like.