Unrestrict Filesystem Requirements

One of the most annoying things about Windows is its unwillingness to permit installation on other files-systems: and doesn't Vista now requie NTFS for the OS install?

But Ubuntu does the same, requiring a Linux FS for its base install. But what if I, Joe User, have reason to use a different FS for the base install, but Ubuntu won't let me?

I say that Ubuntu should, by default, choose its preffered File Systems for OS, Swap, etc...but it should be re-configurable for the User's convenience if needed. I understand there are probably method behind the current madness, but the current restrictions already prohibit certain applications or contexts of use.

For example, what if I want to share a partition as both swap (for linux/unix) and virtual memory (for Windows)? What if I want NOT to lose space to Linux and utilize space around my Linux-install for Windows also? For example, if I want to use the home folder on both Windows and Linux, but Ubuntu requires the Home on a FS that's either (a) inaccessible to Windows or (b) dangerous/risky to access from Windows by whatever means.

Make Ubuntu competitor-friendly, and FS-agnostic: and work-around the issues it may cause (for instance, if I use Fat32 or NTFS instead of ext#, Reiser, etc...and Linux somehow depends on some FS feature in one of these, then have configurations files which store the data that these would otherwise use the FS for).

The truth of the matter is that many people just can't/won't abandon Windows. I can't: I need ntfswrapper, for example, and certain Window's features for productivity/work-flow reasons...Linux's navigation through address-bars also sucks (in comparison to how I use it, no offense), and there's a lot on it that's just still too painful...and as a bio major I have no time for picking-up programming (though I want to eventually). Business majors/etc. are another good example: they're stuck, period.