Isn't it amazing how you can find them on every single Linux user forum: the ditherers.
"Yes, I would like to try your distro but what about this or that?" You can spend hours analysing and answering their questions only to have them come back with another one, they never just jump in and have a look-see.
James, there is much good news about Linux:
1. Linux is Linux. In other words, you can take any Linux distro and mould it into the ideal desktop just for you, and it won't cost you a cent. What is the ideal desktop? Well, that depends on just what you're going to your box for, and you're the only one who knows that, we don't.
2. Ideally you want a rock-solid base (which Debian Wheezy provides) and not too many applications you're not going to use (WattOS fits the bill here). Then you use the Debian Wheezy repositories - which are the motherlode of all repositories - to add whatever you want. Synaptic and Apt-get make it so easy!
3. I totally agree with Blaze in that the only way you are going to find out whether or not WattOS is the right distro for you is to actually try it. That's what we've all done, and believe me, it doesn't take that much time! All you have to do is free, say, 15GB or so of memory on your hard drive for the "/" directory and install WattOS there. Then take it for a test drive!
By the way, I'm not sure that you can blame Ubuntu alone for your laptop running hot. Is your BIOS really up to date? Has the "Kool'n Quiet" option (or whatever the equivalent is for your CPU/BIOS) been enabled? Does you laptop have enough (say, 2GB or so) RAM?
