Speaking from the perspective of someone who's equally comfortable with working on windows as linux, from a technical angle linux really would be better for this task (less resource hogging, more reliable, much more secure, potentially faster) if set up correctly. Windows will of course work without a problem either (or at least should do!) so it's really a moot point what one you choose. I'm merely throwing linux out there as an option - and an easier one than you might think.
I agree that linux is in many respects a better option, if you want to learn to use it...
if you want something that you can setup within an hour and something that all looks familiar, with the best driver support, then go with windows.
If you want to learn to use Linux or have limited hardware, then go with Linux. (or if you're already comfortable on Linux)
the only problems I see if the lack of driver support, and the fact that it's not as easy as windows, (I was going to say not as polished as windows, but I'm not sure that's a fair comparison)...
so far as linux not being as polished as windows I think that there is a good analogy to be made with wrestling.
real wrestlers are pretty much ugly lumps of meat, they have grunt and get the job done.
pretend wrestlers like you see on WWE are fake, they look pretty, but they just aren't as good at getting the job done, in a contest of raw power, they are probably going to loose.
[quoteThere's no reason it should be a very lengthy process - back in the days when Gentoo was the only sensible option then maybe. Now that we've got the likes of Ubuntu around, it really shouldn't be lengthy unless you run into lots of difficulties...[/quote]
I suppose it really rather depends on whether you want to learn Linux as a learning process, as a way to replace windows to have cheaper computing or as a career choice...
IMO, if you want to look at computers as a career, and are thinking about specialising in Linux then don't learn to rely on the pretty desktop, and the graphical tools, if you're supporting Linux in a professional environment a lot of that is going to be over text based SSH sessions.
At the end of the day, Linux is an option, and it is a good option, but how much you get out of it will depend on how much you put in...