Basic info about Linux on a desk top computer.?

You can download and run Linux from a CD so you don't have to install it on a hard drive. This is great for trying it out to see if you like it. GIMP is a great program to use on Linux for digital photography. OpenOffice is an excellent substitute for MSOffice. Here is a few links...

Try distrowatch. Also try this site http://www.linux-tutorial.info/index.php

Personally i'd recommend you get some livecds first. They are bootable cds which you can use to try the OS without putting it on your hard drive. You have to go into your bios and choose boot from cd/dvd and it will boot your os.

I consider myself an experienced windows user but I now use linux. The problems we have is that linux seems so different. a lot of linux OS use the command line. However there are linux distributions (distros) where you don't have to know any commands to use. Many will rec going to ubuntu but I found it difficult. For a windows user you should try mepis or PClinuxOS. I use PClinuxOS now.

First some common myths about linux that have been put out here.

Drivers. Linux is plug and play. Most things will run right away, even off the live cd. some distributions have problems with printers and wireless networking. This is because MS is a closed shop and the companies that do drivers have to keep their code a commercial secret. If you have a canon printer you will have some problems. My pixma MP150 has no linux drivers but I found an open source alternative.

Don't listen to the guy who dissed software. You DON'T have to go to a shop to get software. Nearly every Windows software has an equivalent in linux and they are mainly free. You have a prog called synaptic which will install software from a library by internet. You choose the software - it is downloaded and installed automatically. If it is something that doesn't have a port to linux you can run it in an emulator like wine which opens a windows, ahem, window. this lets you play games.

Support. Most good distros will have a wiki and a forum which will welcome new members.

Now let me tell you about the OS from a windows persons point of view.

It works out of the box except for a few drivers - just like xp. In xp you had to install some drivers, yeah. The layout is the same. start button, my computer, control panel etc. the only difference is that you can't access system files as a user........and neither can spammers and spyware. It just won'tinstall. If you want to do a sys thing a window will ask you for the password which you chose on install.

all codecs are included. It boots faster. It has all the 3d vista stuff without having to get a new comp and it is free.

If you are interested go to http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php

and have a read around first as there are a few versions. You can find me there and I'll help you out but I'm a noob. If pclos doesn't grab you then try all the others on distrowatch until you find a linux flavour which is for you. Just download the live cds and try a distro which is comfortable. We are all different and there is a linux out there for everyone.

Good luck and avoid the fanboys :)

Hope you enjoy whatever linux you choose.

And as for John b. That is pure MS fud. How many fixes do MS feed you a day? Drivers etc. I installed pclos and the only driver prob I had was for my printer.

MS is successful because they are installed on all the machines bought due to a successful marketing machine, not a better product. Take the animated cursor fiasco. Doh.

there are viruses that target linux but linux code is more secure and linux is more efficient.

Be real careful of Linux based machines. Even the expensive distributions lack many of the drivers you may need. Also, Linux is not as bullet-proof as users would have you believe.

If you find you must switch to something other then Windows based, I would look at Mac. The biggest problem,though is that the Mac does not have near the software support as windows.

Keep in mind, though, if you change to a mac, you are buying a new computer, Linux is a software only change.

For my money, stay with Microsoft Windows. They are the biggest, and have proven over the years to be state of the art, if not the best. The very fact that they keep updating and fixing their product, shows their commitment, and they didn't get as big and popular as they are by selling an inferior product.

Sure, there may be some problems from time to time, But these problems are usually addressed quickly.

By the way,just after I installed my Linux Suse software, I needed to connect to the Internet and download over 400 fixes and security updates (so much for bullet-proof) which I couldn't do because there was no driver available for my Wifi.

Good luck

I was sick of Microsoft too, so I started to experiment with other operating systems. First, I tried Linux. I tried several different Linux distributions. Each was a little complicated. In the end, I went with a Mac. I'm now on my third Mac, a MacBook Pro. I love these machines, they're great. Linux isn't a viable solution for the masses. Mac OS X is actually the largest distribution of UNIX, and by far the easiest. For every activity you've mentioned, the Mac is perfect. If you have any questions about the Mac, just send me a message. I'll be glad to help. If you wish to give Linux a try first, I recommend Fedora Core or Ubuntu.

http://www.linux.org/

Linux is a Free Os But Most Software u buy in a store will not run on linux also Linux is Not for the Faint of heart if someing go's

wrong usely its not easy to fix but a good OS none the less

u need a good understanding of how a pc works just to get linux set up < all nuts and bolts of a pc >)

Here is one of my favorite beginner websites:

http://www.linux.org/lessons/beginner/index.html

There are probably thousands of other sites. This is a really huge topic. I have tried and used Linux a fair amount, but am not an expert by any means.

Probably the most popular and user-friendly Linux distro is Ubuntu, at least as far as free distros go.

I personally prefer to pay for my Linux, and use the commercial Linux distro called Xandros (www.xandros.com). The Home Edition is only $40, and with it you get not only a complete operating system but just about all of the applications you will ever really need, if you just want to use it for email and word processing. Most of the programs are "open source" and work extremely well. The most popular digital imaging program that is used with Linux is called The Gimp. It is also available for Windows if you want to give it a test drive. It is very powerful, but also has a pretty steep learning curve, but I personally think it is worthwhile learning if you want to do high-end stuff and not fork out hundreds of dollars for Photoshop.

Linux has a lot of advantages over Windows. It is practically bullet-proof as far as viruses are concerned. It is extremely stable. Unlike with Windows XP, you will always work in a non-administrative "user account" with virtually no chance of messing up your core operating system. It is fast. It is designed for multiple users. It runs extremely well on slightly older equipment, a fact that does not endear it to hardware manufacturers who always want to sale the latest stuff. Unlike Macintosh's, the Linux graphical interface is made to work and look like WIndows, so the transition from Windows is easy.

There are also a lot of problems, to be blunt. Forget about running Windows programs. The Windows emulators I have seen and tried are extremely limited in usefulness. Linux uses a completely different file system and kernel, and if yoiu ever "get under the hood" and look at the command-line interface, it will seem very cryptic and confusing. Hardware support may be very poor, especially for things like scanners and wireless network interfaces. You also have to decide which Linux distro to use, and there are probably thousands out there, and they have very different capabilities.

You will also have to decide whether or not you are going to keep Windows on your machine, and for the vast majority of us who need to use Windows for some programs we have to have, you have to have some concept of how to partition a hard drive, what a Linux swap partition is, and to have some understanding of what a boot loader does. Many of the more user-friendly Linux distros like Xandros or Ubuntu will walk you right through those things, though.

Want to test drive Linux without altering your system? Download or order (for a very small fee) a Knoppix disk. You can run Linux from a CD drive, or transfer it to your RAM if you have enough RAM, or even run it from a USB drive. www.knoppix.org. Knoppix will even let you save your configuration and settings, so that when you boot it up you don't have to reset everything again. Knoppix can even be used as a stand-alone OS if you wish, very handy if your computer happens to crash and you need to get something done.

Have fun! The Linux community in general is extremely helpful and enthusiastic.

Addendum: My parents use Mac's and love them. They have many of the same advantages of Linux in terms of stability and security - they are both based on UNIX, a very old and very stable OS. Problems? A limited user base means limited availability of software. The GUI works VERY differently from Windows, and if you are migrating from Windows, be prepared for a LOT of confusion. I recently had to set up a wireless network for my elderly parents using a Linksys router and their Mac's and Powerbook, and it seemed to take forever. I had to spend all day doing web searches to figure out how to do things I have done for years in Windows. Biggest problem? You will have to buy a new, expensive machine that is pretty useless if you need to run a Windows program. However, people who like Mac's are pretty fanatical about them.

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http://www.computerhope.com/unix.htm

This URL gives good info about Unix and it commands.. that would help you once you enter the World of Linux...

Kiran Kollepalli

www.qsoftindia.com

www.linux.org