[deanrantala]

Kinda new here.. But this thread cought my attention...

I have used Linux AND Unix exclusively now for nearly 2 years. The most debated questions with Linux is the "wich distro" one.... Well, here it is...

SuSE is perhaps the easiest to use and most automated, it truly stands up to XP in terms of user freindlyness.

Mandy is not far off, but not as polished.

RH is great but has always been geared just a little more towards the geek.

If you are not afraid of getting your "hands dirty" and actually learn something, the Slackware, Debian, and Gentoo are also nice. If you go with a Debian-based distro, you have the advantage of apt - wich is a wonderfull tool that lets you install any peice of software by mearly typing "apt-get install blah blah blah" It automatically DL's, installs, and configures the new software for you on-the-fly. And of coarse, like all Linux software, it is all free.

If you want to get the feel of Linux, DL the Knoppix ISO. Knoppix is an entire Linux OS thet runs *completely from the CD* - thats right, you do not even need a HD, it is totally run from the CD. It is nice because it lets you get an idea what Linux and the KDE desktop is like, Knoppix (when booted) autodetects all your hardware, configures your network, sets up your vidoe, sound, and even loads your printer drivers. The disk contains over 2 gigs of software that is uncompressed on-the-fly including 2 office suites, the Mozilla web browser, multimedia playback software, Graphick editing apps, and much more.

As for windows software on llinux.. Support has gotten good. With a program like "wine" - you can run many Windows apps on linux. And the nice thing is: wine "Is Not Emulator" - it is the same thing Win2k/XP does - it creates a "compatability layer". It basically creates a entire "fake windows" directory structure, builds a registry, and loads a cusion between Linux and the Windows app - just as @2K and XP do (NT-based OS's do not run normal Windows apps natively for the record). Currently, I run Office 2000 absolutely great as well as Photoshop, Kazaa, 3D home architect 5 and DreamWeaver.

Linux has progressed to a level of usability far more than many currently think, it is just not as well known to many. Just as XP has it's advantages, so does Linux, and just as XP has it's downs, so does Linux as well. We must not forget, however that while Linux might stand as one of the most versetile and solid OS's availabe, Microsoft has defined the GUI, Linux has just followed the trend now. Windows is not evil, nor is Linux.

Just my .02