I used to run windows and linux... Then I started using FreeBSD.. When I got used to FreeBSD I ditched linux.. The ports system on FreeBSD rocks! Want to install apache? Just cd /usr/ports/www/apache and issue make all install.. Everything you need will get fetched and build..

Fbsd and linux both have the same look and feel eventhough they're different "under the hood"... You can run most (if not all) applications available for Linux on FreeBSD (natively).. You can even run linux binaries on FreeBSD..

One side note though.. AFAIK Nvidia are the only ones that support FreeBSD.. So if you want hardware accelerated 3D in Xorg/XFree86 you're stuck with NVidia..


If it was me I'd stick with windows and FreeBSD..

Some pointers you might need:

FreeBSD Handbook
Freshports Everything you wanted to know about the ports that are available..