[SmartASH]

Hello, I have a question about something... Windows is the only operating system i've ever used and i want to switch to Linux. How hard would you say it is going to be for me to do this with my computer? and also, is it possible to have both windows and Linux installed on my hard drive? Thankyou

[GrumpyHermit]

If you are a truly advanced Windows user, able to hack the registry and customise it to your heart's content, then Linux will be no problem, although you will have to learn Unix language for much of the command-line structure. If you just use windows to browse the web and send an occasional email, then Linux will be a huge confusion.

You can install Linux so that it shares a hard drive with Windows. This is called partitioning. Most Linux distributions (types of Linux) will handle this chore as part of the installation. Things often go wrong, however, so if you have data on your Windows system that you value, you should do a full backup before installing Linux.

A way to experiment with Linux without installing anything to your hard drive is to use a live CD version of Linux, which runs off of the CD only. It doesn't give you the whole Linux experience, but it is good for playing around with, to see if you are really interested in switching. The Linux distributions that include a live CD are Mandrake, SuSE, Linspire and Knoppix.

[lynch]

Using a liveCD will also tell you if your hardware is supported or not.
lynch

[Whiteskin]

I'd go knoppix, just because it's the eldest, and probably most known. Try knoppix, then come back if you like it to figure out how to install.