It has occurred to me that most things I want to use require GDK anyways, so XFCE isn't all that light weight any more.
XFCE still feels faster than GNOME or KDE on old hardware, probably because it doesn't use any semi-transparent 3D gimmicks. It is also shaping up to be a very good option for those who prefer the old GNOME look. The panel and most other UI elements are even more configurable than I remember GNOME 2 to have been. I'll be sticking with Xubuntu 12.04 for quite some time.
I do very little Linux support currently, but there are talks of deploying Linux in our schools very soon and I can't see them using anything other than Ubuntu. It will do me well to have familiarity with the product. I'm upgrading my desktop to Xubuntu 12.04 now, but I think I'm going to switch my secondary laptop to Ubuntu and start getting used to it.
No problem. Just needed a word about how clicking on the 'cog wheel' to close Firefox won't work (windows controls hidden until mouse over). They just clicked around the interface to find things.
West Virginia is making a BIG push on the school districts to have a 1:1 student/computer ratio. Most districts going forward with it are purchasing netbooks to cut costs. Their technology budgets are already thin and they are desperately looking for ways of trimming even more to make room for more machines.