I have been thinking of giving it a try as I have heard lots about it but Im not quite sure what to expect. Was just wondering if it will be compatible with some of the programs like MS office, Winamp, etc etc. Also will drivers be a problem?

Also wondering what exactly are the main advantages and disadvantages in comparison with XP.

TIA

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I use it at work since half our servers are Ubuntu, the other half are Windows and I have to administer them both. Your welcome to try it, its a good OS, but don't expect it to be Windows. It comes with several benefits over Windows, but some flaws that you don't encounter with Windows.

For example, if you decide your cutting edge and need the best hardware the moment it comes out, expect to do alot of googling to determine what drivers you need, and expect to use the Shell (command line for Windows users) a lot. In saying this, out-of-the-box Ubuntu is generally very good with hardware, and in most cases I haven't had to touch driver/kernel.

In saying this, in general, linux is a much more stable and powerful platform that Windows, partly because its open-source and has a avid following, and because it is coded better in parts. The mere fact that is opensource brings forward another advantage that it is free. I would also say its easier to install things in Ubuntu, through aptitude/synaptic, whatever floats your boat really. I personally use the shell 90% of the time in linux so I don't know crap all about the GUI/Gnome/KDE (whichever one you choose). So don't ask me about the usability. On the face of it, I like Windows usability better, but thats because I've been brought up with Windows. Although in saying this, Gnome and very similar usability to Windows.

With regard to your comment about typical Windows programs working in Linux. The simple answer is No, but you can attempt to use Wine. Wine is a Linux-Windows Emulator that allows you to run some Windows programs in Linux. I say "some", because in general the more complicated the Windows App, the less likely it is going to run. For example, Office won't run in it. But you can use OpenOffice instead. It isn't as good, but it has 99% of all the functionality that people need. Winamp might have a Linux version, and other programs like VLC do too.

Let me know if you want any further information.

PS: if you like a lot of flash in your GUI, then you'll like Ubuntu with XGL enabled.
PPS: I personally use Windows at home, because I get free legal licenses (i.e. I don't have to pay for anything), and Windows is easier to learn, administer and has better vendor support than Linux. That doesn't mean Windows it better, it just means I do enough administering at work, I don't want to do it when I get home too.
PPS:

I am Using the 8.04 for some months now and here what i think: It's quick and powerful, it's stable and the graphic interface can be tuned very deeply. Yet there's some major flaws imo, first of all hardware and softs compability, it's very very limited, there are special programms that can make the windows stuff works in it but i have never tryed, also installing softs can be hard du to the synaptic interface, cause sometimes you don't know the exact files to download and install, and here lies another possible flaw, people without internet must forget about it, it's all about web & upgrades. Another flaw is the sound plugin, there's actually two: the pulse wich oblige you to choose between listening to the sound from flash or from another source and that means for example that if you opened a youtube vid and after that you want to listen to an mp3 track, you have to close your web navigator and then open the track and vice verça,the second plugin was designed to slove this but with it if you open more than two flash applications (2 youtube vids) firfox will crash in 90% of cases, and i insist on firefox because i think it's badly integrated wich is a shame considering it's the most popular open source navigator, it often crashes (the 2 & 3) even without the sound plugins problems, (there's however another linux distribution that seems to cope better with firefox+flash ), there a lot more to say but this is what comes immediatly to my mind, it's a very good OS but it's far from being perfect as the Linux fanatics want us to believe. What i advise you is to get the cd (it's free, see their website) and to boot from it, that allows you to use it without installing it, you can also install it in windows and use it like any other application.