Ubuntu comes with a partitioning program with the liveCD so you can see what you think of it and then if you like it create a partition (well 2 - one for the page file)
You can even try Linux distro's with VMware in the comfort of Windows. - although this isn't great and screws up my network settings.
What Linux will do is show you how big of a rip off Microsoft software is. It is like XP Pro with Office and a Photoshop elements type program. Quite a eye opener.