Reformatting. Try a new OS?

Because of a number of problems with my computer I no longer wish to solve (such as losing my audio), I'm going to reformat and start brand new.  With that, should I try a new OS?  I'm currently on Windows XP, the standard version that comes with every Dell Dimension (yes, Dell sucks.. I learned the hard way).

A friend recommended Windows 2000.  He doesn't seem to be experiencing any random crashes anymore.  However, another says 2000 doesn't juice the most out of your PC.  Another recommended various flavors of Linux.  However, I don't think certain games will run on Linux, or even certain programs such as Photoshop and Premiere.  I was also recommended to run a dual-OS with XP and Linux, but wouldn't that create more problems?

I'm pretty new to the OS world.  What do you guys recommend?

I don't play any games, aside from Warcraft III once every few months.  I'm mostly interested in running Photoshop and Premiere.  But for future reference... how do I disable theme support on XP?

I might go Dual boot with Windows 2000 and Ubuntu Linux