we've come to an era where there are a lot of OSs that you just need to click "next" a bunch of times and voilá, your os is installed and configured...
I've been a linux users for years, and yes, at this times it is easier/faster to install a linux distro like mint or ubuntu in a new box, but not true for linuxes like gentoo stage 1 or 2, where you need to build your system almost from scratch ... one thing is true though, linux has a LOT better support for hardware now ... I have had problems with all drivers, including ethernet too ... which is a pain in the **** since you NEED internet to download all the drivers.
=) the day they make more commercial apps ( games :D ) for linux, I will get rid of my windows partition