so it became apparent to me last night as i was trying to setup the workstation i built for my brother that Linux is not ready for mainstream use, even though it has a chance with Valve pushing it, and the general dismay that power users have towards W8, it's still not ready
i was doing something rather complex, trying to install both Nvidia and AMD GPU drivers, but everytime both are installed linux locks up during boot, i went through 7 distro's and had the same problem (nevermind the PITA of nvidia drivers)
installed 7 pro, and everything installed perfectly and runs fine
if a semi advanced linux user cant solve a problem, than there is no way that your average joe will be able to