It wouldn't have been free if I had gotten it with my computer, no. I know that.

I did get it for free though, through a university-sponsored-thingy. Someone paid for it, yes, but not me, my friends or anyone I know. So for me it was free.

As a desktop OS?  That boggles my mind.  Solaris 10 is a good enterprise UNIX OS, but it is not a good desktop OS.  Sun's Java Desktop (Linux) is a better alternative for desktop computing, but if you are thinking of going the Linux route then I would recommend Ubuntu.

No.

@ twesterm

Tyra? wot?

Switched to Ubuntu in May...never looked back.

I like telling my OS what to do instead of my OS back talking.

The rub for this is that the person buying the machine has to ask for Windows to NOT be included and the manufacturer has to agree for Windows to NOT be included.  Most dealers put it on my default and unless you're willing to go through 7 levels of heck and back to not have it on there then that's the way it's going to stay.

The result is that the user doesn't see Windows as a cost.  It's just there.  You're not getting Linux instead of Windows, you're getting both but only using Linux or Windows.  Telling a user that it's cheaper to use Linux when they're already running Windows on their machine will make them think you're an idiot.  It's not like you're handing them a wad of cash in exchange for taking Windows off and putting Linux on so cost is totally irrelevant.

You can shout at the sky all day long till you turn blue in the face that Linux is free but until the consumer has the choice of free or not free, it doesn't matter.

And then a bad update for HAL comes along and screws over your xorg. 

No. They made a desktop version (OpenSolaris) with GNOME and other Linux-like features. It's free software too. They're going to do a 6-month release cycle: OpenSolaris 2008.05 was out in May and OpenSolaris 2008.11 will be released in November.

If Vista came with your computer, you paid for it when you bought the computer.

As for counter argument #1: You are close to the correct answer

edit: I posted this before reading his follow up post.  It's nice you were able to get it for free, I got that too when I was in college.

I have used Kubuntu since 6.06 Dapper Drake and I have only one suggestion:
Newbies should adopt whichever distro a few weeks after release, as there could still be bugs and glitches, especially on less common HW configurations, just to avoid the risk of being discouraged early.
Anyhow, HW support gets better with each new release, 8.04 was already perfect on most notebooks and more than decent on models once troublesome, on my HP, for example, previous releases needed windows drivers and ndiswrapper to be able to use the wireless chip, while with 8.04, after upgrading the kernel to 2.6.24-19 (and newer ones) I was finally able to use native linux drivers.
Graphics drivers aren't anymore a problem also on 16:9 and 16:10 screens that before, with some GPU's, including mine, required hand installation.
So, based on my own experience, I guess 8.10 should be even easier.
This address is usefur for newbies, normal users and experts: http://ubuntuforums.org

Those who want to try linux, just give it a try with a fresh look, it will prevent you from the "it doesn't work like windows so it's useless" effect.

Those who don't want, just don't.

I used to beg people trying, but really Linux has now enough users and developpers to evolve faster than any other OS, so if you want to stay away from it, I don't care anymore.

Most of my friends that were joking about my strange desktop some years ago are now bigger Linux advocates than I am, so now I'll let time do its job.

I would mention about the visual effects that you can turn them off if you prefer to have a faster computer. I know someone said he dislikes flair that slows down your computer.