To be scrupulously fair, the situation isn't always much better in Windows: Most people find the idea of spelunking the Registry to be about as unappealing -- although the Registry does enforce at least some degree of consistency in the way configuration data is stored.

This is the first time, I have seen a techie saying something good for windows registry ;)

I feel the only blocker in case of Linux-based OS is drivers eg. for printers, wireless and other cards.

As a security admin, I have both Linux and windows on my desktop :)