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Ok, but is there any real advantage? Also, what about security?

For most people with Win7 and Avast (for example) there is not much of a difference. Win7 will work out of the box for majority of people, and it will be good enough for a long time.

If you do some risky activities (like searching for illegal MP3 or DVD downloads, or pirated software, on Chinese Web sites) then Windows is not even an option for such a thing. Nothing is, really, except a disposable VM image (VirtualBox) that you discard after each browsing session.

All in all, Linux will work just as well, if not better, but some normal activities will be hampered. I don't know, for example, if iTunes is supported. There were some issues with BlueRay disks too. Generally if you have a good deal of Windows software (especially if it is expensive, like AutoCAD) then there is no reason for you to switch to Linux. But if you are building a laptop for the kitchen then Linux sounds like a good solution; upgrade from XP to Win7 would cost more than the laptop itself.

Security-wise, modern Windows is not that bad, but Linux is still better. If you need a top-notch security, though, you need OpenBSD (and it is only for UNIX gurus.)