Uh, Tiger Shark and d0pp kind of summed it up.

I will say it a little less diplomatic:
If you can't handle Windows, use your computer as a door stop, you will get more use out of it.

Yes, M$ has problems. Most can be mitigated by proper administration.

And there in lies the quandary: How do you learn to administer an OS without understanding what it is doing, especially since M$ tries to do it for you without doing it properly from the start?

READ!
Everything you can.
M$ actually helps you. They provide a wealth of knowledgebase articles to study.

“ Google” for answers.

Come here to AO and search through the archives, ask questions if you can't find an answer.

Am I saying that Linux isn't a great OS? ........ No.

Am I saying you can't learn from Linux? .......... No.

What I am saying is that if you can't secure a M$ system, then installing Linux and expecting it to secure itself is futile at best.

Linux, at least in the early days, made you learn how to secure it, and run it for that matter.
Now pretty much anybody with a little computer savvy can install and run Linux. Just because fewer exploits are written for Linux at this time doesn't mean you are safe if you run it. That will change, before you know it.

And as d0pp said, M$ is the industry standard. If you expect a job somewhere, you better know M$. But if you want to learn something else, Linux can still be a great teacher.

Go to Linux for the right reasons.

MOOD: Drunk and Content. Just finished a GREAT Dominican, just got through teaching ( while learning and getting drunk together ) an old Linux guru and friend how to administer LVM on Linux, all while listening to a great CD, Big Band Christmas ( the Peter Jacobs Orchestra )
Life is Good, despite the curves it throughs.