I don't particularly like depending on their servers. So when their log on server in Seattle (or wherever it is) is down, even if my game server is up I can't play. And you can't do LAN games anymore which I liked. But maybe those are just gone with today's landscape.

Which is why you should install xp if you want to run windows programs. I understand running wine on a linux install so you can keep a couple of windows apps. I run it because I like to fool around on counterstrike. But If you want to run 95% windows programs, just install windows for Pete's sake. Don't blame linux for having to add some bloat to run another OS's programs. I bet someone here has some numbers for how much bloat it takes for windows to run linux apps, assuming that is possible.