Linux can be alot better if you know some about programming basics. First of all, you would probaly want a Linux distro with a graphical interface like Gnome, so it would be more useful to you. Personally I would mainly want to use linux on an older computer as a firewall or server or for hacking maybe. Check out www.digg.com ..lots of interesting articles on different things, several being linux related, like a quiz that can help you choose the distro you want...Personally I think you might want to keep with XP though...its really not that bad and rarely crashes if you get service pack updates regularly and use something like Ad-aware daily...ohh yeah, and an anti-virus program is nice too.
Peace