>>35 Laptops are a different matter -- the BIOS and hardware on them may in fact be designed to handle a PS/2 device being plugged in.
Desktops however are another matter.
>>34 Because it doesn't screw up like Windows does? The only thing Linux needs to reboot for is...:
- Changing the root device (as it's not possible to umount /)
- Upgrading kernels (kexec has a long way to go dispite having started way back in Kernel 2.2 days, and is x86-specific)
- Upgrading non-hotpluggable hardware
- In the case of a serious kernel oops, which is very rare.
Windows typically needs reboots whenever you move the mouse. ;-) Well okay, that's an exxageration. You typically reboot for all of the above reasons... plus...
- Installing device drivers
- Installing some applications
- Under Win95/98: Changing network settings (IP addresses, etc)
- Changing the workgroup or domain (Linux/Unix can typically only need to restart Samba)
- Altering some advanced settings in the system registry
...and I'll bet there's even more.