Rich you can download Ubuntu for free and legal and put it on disc or usb stick and make it bootable so your windows set up is intact and you can try it out.
Ubuntu is fantastic, super quick but can be a pain to get older hardware going, but newer hardware is a breeze. For instance to get my wireless epsom printer working in windows i had to install drivers, connect via usb etc etc... In Ubuntu i just clicked print and it worked, simple.
Give it a try if you dont like it you havent lost anything