Unfortunately, it seems that Ubuntu / Linux will not work for me.
I opened up some XLS workbooks, and it does not work properly. Simple functions like indirect() do not work. Another workbook had a macro that gave errors and froze Calc with runtime errors. Writer opens my DOCX files, but does not appear identical in layout. They're not really compatible at all, especially Excel/Calc.
I also tried GIMP. While it's no Photoshop, it doesn't seem too difficult to apply Photoshop principles using that program. Also kinda odd that it's not one window. I'm sure someone can get adjusted to it, so GIMP is just okay.
And when I said that everything is fast a few posts back, I need to take that back. It is fast if you have one application open but it sucks with multitasking.
So I really can't switch to Linux unfortunately. I installed it on another computer with an i7 processor, 8 GB RAM. And it's still not up to par with Windows.
I need to seriously consider if it's worth my investment to get a Mac. Otherwise I guess I need to deal with Windows again and hopefully the Win/Office business model does not change much. Damn you Microsoft, I can never leave even though I try. LOL
Appreciate all the feedback given, they were very useful and informative, and hey, at least I tried Linux for the first time in my life.