I don't want to turn this into a slanging match, but you should know that Linux programs aren't purchased at the local computer store. Instead, you select any one or more of several thousand free programs in the repositories ( by simply clicking on add/remove programs) and they install without any help from you.
If you can't find drivers for new hardware, that's the problem of the manufacturers, not the OS. You know, when the latest versions of Windows are released, lots of people have had problems getting their hardware to work due to missing drivers.
And when was the last time you were able to install a Windows program on a Mac?
I still use Windows from time to time so that I can keep on top of the problems my club members have, but I consider the only reason Windows is the dominant OS is because of the wonderful sales job that Microsoft have done on the general community. They have actually convinced other sales people that it is illegal to sell a computer without an operating system installed on it (and of course that OS just happens to be some version of Windows).
Supposedly now, you can't even buy Windows XP (though we can prove that that's not true), but you can still download any version of the Linux OSes that you might be interested in playing with.

tony
Lenovo lappie, 4Gb RAM, 500Gb HD
Ubuntu 12.04
Running BIAB under WINE