Maybe Windows is terrible, I've heard lots of bad stuff about the wifi and touchpad drivers in particular. I installed xubuntu the day I got it and everything worked out of the box from day one. Power management on ubuntu 12.04 wasn't so great, but battery life became significantly better on 14.04.

Additionally, a roommate spilled a pint of beer on my computer and Asus replaced it for free, despite not having an accidental damage warranty.