OS Change?

Hay guys,
I'm looking to change from Windows XP over to a different OS, and I was wondering what OS's you guys would recomend. A couple of requirements would be:
-As stable as possible.
-Able to be somewhat easy to use until I figure my way around.
-Able to be customizable once I -do- figure my way around.
-Able to run Windows OS games and software easily.
-NOT A MAC.

Thoughts?

Linux

Ubuntu for newbs

Windows 2k3

>>4
he said he wanted GAMES moron.
windows 2003 is a server os and doesn't do games. seriously.

>>4

No - he said 'As stable as possible' which excludes 2k3

Games, eh? Then it's 98 (to an increasingly limited degree) or XP.

Those are his choices. Flat-out.

ReactOS when it reaches that maturity, about it.

>>7
Welcome to year 2006, where Windows of 8 years ago is deprecated and games don't work on it

a lot of people will tell you me is unstable but if it is setup properly it is the most stable 9x OS out there.  just disable system restore, get all the updates (directx9, net framework 1.1/2.0, etc., ie 6 but still use firefox/thunderbird) and you will be fine.  if all you want to do is games it ought to be ok and it will be slightly faster (but never as secure) than winxp.

failing that, try windows 2000 or nt workstation

>>5
>>6
are you retarded? windows 2k3 is perfectly stable (as a windows can get) and runs all games that work on xp just fine. stupid faggots.

still the change from xp to 2k3 isn't that big. in fact if you enable the themes you can't even tell the difference at the first sight. however, windows 2k3 is more secure than xp, but that is just because it has better default settings.

>>1
www.opera.com

Guh.

Move XP to a secondary partition for gaming.  Keep it clean, keep it lean.

Keep data on another partition.

On another partition install Kubuntu GNU/Linux.  Give it a try.  Experiment with it.

When you're comfy with Kubuntu, replace it with Gentoo sometime this Summer, when you have a week free.  Be prepared for headaches, but also a new found obsession.

When you're pretty handy at Gentoo, replace it with Linux From Scratch, sometime over Winter Break, Spring Break (if you're a loser), or next Summer.  Be prepared for a week long continuous headache, but a new sense of total 1337-ness.

When you're comfy with LFS, replace it with Debian or something so you can get some real work done.  Hopefully by then, you'll have grown weary of the repetitive games they're pushing now, and you won't care about Windows anymore.  Or Linux will be a widely accepted gaming platform.  One of those.

>>1
Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, then move on to ReactOS when it's more mature.

>>10
if it is setup properly it is the most stable 9x OS
Yes it is, but 9x OSes all suck and went that way [points backwards in time]

>>14
I still get better framerates in MAME with it.

>>15
That's because it needs less system resources.

>>13
I always wonder why developers are too stupid to make a linux-binary. It's a bit of customization and another compile.
Done.
...the problem is probably that there are not enough people who want to pay for it, so they just don't do it...

Hail ID-Software :)

And yes: Debian ftw!