Thanks for the heads-up on the programs in question (PBP, MPLAB, PICKIT2, etc.etc.etc.)
I've been reading around this morning trying to find 'easy' fixes for getting the video card (7600GS) and wireless card (D-Link generic 802.11b PCI card) to work in 8.04. Turns out there aren't any 'easy' fixes to anything. I've still got the ISO's still, I'm going to give that another go later this week...and yes...a dual-boot setup. I've never had problems in that arena. Just have to be careful I guess.
And thanks for the tip about KiCAD. Never heard of that before. Looks interesting though...