Converted a Windows XP SP3 install into Windows Media Centre Edition 2005.
Not bad having a Windows MCE that is Volume Licence that flags as Genuine and doesn't need any activation hacks 
All over the Intergeeks anyway, mate. The punishment comes when you've installed it all and it fucks up, which Windows will inevitably do.
That's why you have test machines and try every combination of shit to make it break. Then you know what works and what doesn't.
Most of the time its shitty 3rd partys apps or crap drivers that bring windows down. So be careful and choosy about what you install and its all good.
There's something seriously wrong with an OS that will crash because of a misbehaving user space application.
Linux will crash on the basis of a faulty driver, in fact I have had loads of problems with it due to that reason. Plus programs themselves seem to crash more often on it, I haven't had much fun with Firefox on there.
I've used Linux since the mid-90s and don't recognise this at all. A kernel module that is misbehaving can bring down the OS, yes, but that's quite rare. I think I've managed to make it happen a dozen or so times, mostly because I'm running an unstable/experimental distro and upgrade everything very often.
If you compile the stuff yourself it's a bit different because you can cause kernel panic if you do it wrong. Compile a kernel and link to the file system module rather than including it will cause kernel panic, for example, but that's not something I'd blame on Linux.
As for programs crashing, nope, I don't recognise that either. Firefox is a lot more stable on my Debian Linux than it is on my Windows XP work laptop. The same goes with most of the programs I use, form email clients to OpenOffice.
What distro did you run, and what drivers (assuming you're talking about kernel modules, btw) caused it to crash?
