Linux ... ?

I am fed up with windows but can't afford a Mac so, if I install Linux what benefits will I get? Will I have trouble getting used to it? Can I partition my hard drive so as not to lose data, and use both systems until I'm sure it's what I want?





Please no biased or overly complex answers ...

Linux ... ?
Greetings,





I've responded to your question in-line below:





%26gt; I am fed up with windows but can't afford a Mac





A lot of folks are upset at Microsoft for a lot of good reasons. I'm particularly annoyed at the crazy DRM they've worked into Vista. They make it crazy complicated for those of us who actually buy our movies and music to simply listen or watch what we've paid for. And has it stopped piracy? No - just makes the life of normal customers like us more difficult. Thanks MS.





With a fine-tuned installation of Linux, I don't have to put up with that garbage.





%26gt; if I install Linux what benefits will I get?





You'll get the benefit of 100% free software - forever. You'll get the benefit of the ability to customize your system however you see fit. You'll get the benefit of true choice over forced restrictions in the name of "ease of use" or " security". You'll also have the benefit of knowing that you're not supporting a power-hungry monopoly.





%26gt; Will I have trouble getting used to it?





Honestly, yes. You will run into things that frustrate you. You will run into situations where you will say "well, if this were windows, I'd know how to do this", but this is part of the learning process. It's normal, and every Linux guru has gone through it. You had to learn how to do things in Windows at one time didn't you? The same is true for Linux.





As long as you come at it with the expectation that you will have to learn a few new things in order to get the same things done, and you allow time for yourself to learn how to do those things, you'll be just fine. =)





%26gt; Can I partition my hard drive so as not to lose data





Are you talking about your current windows partition? I'll assume so for the purposes of answering this question.





Yes! Absolutely. You can use a program like partition magic or Acronis partition expert in order to create new partitions that can hold your Linux installation. You will want to defragment your hard drive first - to the point where you have several wide open spaces, but once you've done that partitioning with one of the above programs should be pretty simple.





%26gt; use both systems until I'm sure it's what I want?





This is generally referred to as "duel-booting". Again, yes, this is absolutely possible. I'm doing this now on this machine in fact. Every Linux distribution I've seen comes with the ability to duel-boot.





I use OpenSuSE personally - and when my computer boots up, SuSE prompts me to choose whether I want to boot into Windows or Linux. I can also use a SuSE tool called YAST to set which operating system I want to boot up by default.





You can download OpenSuSE for free from the following URL:





http://en.opensuse.org/





Hope this helps!
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