I am about to get a Lenovo T520 with Win7, and will plan to dual boot with Linux. I have been using Crunchbang almost exclusively now for nearly a year. I have been back and forth with Ubuntu, mostly on older hardware which, to be fair, isn't a very fair comparison.
So, I have been more recently alternating on a newer Fujitsu T900. In the end, I think the main conclusion I have is that I really like Openbox, and I don't have so many negative things to say about Unity as others seem to, I think it's fine you have to spend the time using shortcuts and then navigation is fine. I was reading a post recently about various distros, and I saw an opinion that caught my attention. Basically, the writer expressed concern about distros that are multiple steps from the base - i.e. Ubuntu vs. Debian, or even Mint (based on ubuntu, based on debian). Crunchbang is essentially a customized version of Debian, without a bunch of kernal mods as far as I understand it. I see the logic in this argument, and may make me lean towards more of a Debian install in general. Then I realized, why don't more people just plain use Debian instead of Ubuntu in the first place?
Ubuntu does offer a lot of things for the person just "starting" with linux, such as basic ease in installing and a fairly intuitive interface. Yes, I can understand Unity feeling "in the way" at times, however, Windows feels "in the way" often now after I've been using Linux and even Macs for so long now. After 20 years or working in Windows, however, you just get used to it and it disappears. I think Unity is similar, it's just new. And some people hate new.
I started out with ubuntu, and it got me in enough to confidently play around. Then I went Crunchbang, and now that I understand things, this just makes more sense.
SO.... for getting work done, presentations, etc. I am still deciding whether I want to have ubuntu running or crunchbang, or even go all out and do debian base install and customize it to me (which in the end, would be crunchbang pretty much, so... why not use that?)
I will post my experiences here. Probably will USB boot both for awhile, determine which I want, and then officially install. We shall see :)
