I am running 9.1 on the desktop and I am happy with it. Depends a little on your hardware. On my laptop (AMD 1800+, ATI mobility U1), 9.2 is far better then 9.1. Try it and you'll see if it's fine.
One remark on NTFS-write: Why are you guys out there so eager to be able to mess up your systems? There is no reason to write on NTFS from Linux, except some data exchange that can easily managed via a FAT32 partition. It's the same the other way round: why should I want to write on a Linux partition from Windows? OK, its not exactly the same, it's even worse since every Windows-virus may destroy your Linux. But how easy you could do a typo in Linux and Windows is gone! Be aware that you not only need write access, but also rights-managment. You wouldn't want every user to be able to delete system files. It's like working as root all the time.
Sound like a flame against NTFS write, but it's just some thoughts spit out loud
Get used to Linux and you won't need Windows anymore!