http://www.ComputerBob.com/guides/guide_windows_linux.php .
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by ComputerBob
November 12, 2002
Last Updated July 25, 2006
Disclosure: As of this writing, I have no firsthand experience with installing, configuring, or using Linux. This article is based entirely on information that I found at various Web sites, including those mentioned below.
You like the user-friendliness of Microsoft Windows, 
but
you're tired of having to buy and learn how to use a whole new, expensive
version of Windows every couple of years. You're tired of your computer
crashing, and of having to download and install one or more huge security
patches every week or two, just to try to keep hackers out of your computer.
And you're tired of having to buy a brand new computer every few years,
just because the new version of Windows refuses to run on your 3 year-old
computer. And, after all that trouble, you're tired of discovering that
the brand new version of Windows on your brand new PC runs a lot slower
than the older version of Windows used to run on your old PC.
If that's how you feel, do you have any other choices? You could buy a Macintosh, but they're relatively expensive, due to the fact that Apple is the only company that makes them.
What if you could get a new operating system for your existing PC for free, that would look and work much like Windows? And what if that operating system ran your choice of thousands of non-Microsoft commercial and free software applications, even on older computers?
Linux is a totally free computer operating system. In fact, Linux is also a very small, very fast, very powerful, very secure, very stable, very mature, and highly supported operating system. For more details, see ExtremeTech's article, Everything You Wanted to Know About Linux. There are versions of Linux that can run just fine on Intel 80386-based PCs built in the early 1990s. Because it is so robust, many corporations run the Linux operating system on their corporate Web and mail servers. Unfortunately, it has always struggled to try to compete with Microsoft Windows on normal users' desktops. That's mainly because Linux has always had a well-deserved reputation for being highly technical and difficult to install, configure and use -- an operating system created by eggheads for eggheads. So, even though many distributions of Linux can be downloaded and installed for free from their specific Web sites, you would need a high-speed Internet connection and some technical knowledge about computers to be able to do it. For those who don't have the equipment, high-speed connection, or technical knowledge to download and burn their own Linux installation CDs, several sources sell low-cost installation CDs of Linux distros -- a few of the more popular sources are CheapBytes and TechBroker and Edmunds Enterprises and LinuxCentral.
The good news is that Linux is now easier for non-techies to obtain,
install, and use. In the past couple of years, 
several
of the leading Linux developers have taken the totally free Linux kernel
(underlying code) and repackaged it in commercial distributions. They're
allowed to do that because the various distributions include installation
programs, collections of commercial and free software applications,
improved support for multimedia devices, and graphical user interfaces
(desktop icons, menus, etc.) that make Linux look and work a lot like
Windows. A few of the most popular, more user-friendly commercial Linux
distributions are RedHat,
Xandros,
SuSE, Libranet,
Mandrake,
Lycoris,
and Lindows.
Unlike Windows, in which the Windows desktop is built into Windows itself,
Linux can run any one of several different desktops. The two most popular
desktops for Linux are KDE
and Gnome,
but most Linux distributions include one or both of those, plus several
others, allowing users to switch between them at will. As a result of
its new user-friendliness, its proven reliability and security, the
availability of quality software applications that run on it, and its
low cost, Linux is starting to make significant headway into government,
as well as corporate
and home desktop markets.
As with any software, each commercial Linux distribution has its own strengths and weaknesses, depending on each user's needs and abilities. For example, Lindows reportedly can run several Windows applications, like Microsoft Office, along with applications that were written for Linux, but Lindows doesn't come with as many applications as other distributions, and you must pay a yearly fee to download more applications from its Web site. Mandrake, on the other hand, cannot run software that was written for Windows, but it has excellent documentation, is easy to install and configure, and comes with several hundred software applications.
ExtremeTech's Desktop Linux Superguide is a series of easy-to-understand articles that describe, compare, and summarize the features, strengths and weaknesses of each of the major Linux distributions. It includes descriptions of how easy or difficult it is to install and configure each one, to help you decide which distribution would be best for you. Each article includes a link to a forum discussion, where many readers describe and discuss their own good and bad experiences with each distribution. Other good sources of Linux news and support include Linux.org and Linux.com and LinuxWorld.com and Internet.com and Linuxnewbie.org and Really Linux and TinyMinds and Librenix and PCLinuxOnline and DesktopLinux.com and ZDNet, plus most of those sites contain hyperlinks to several other excellent Linux news and support sites. DistroWatch has information about, and comparisons of, many, many Linux distributions. LinuxQuestions.org has an online support forum, Linux Virgins has how-tos and tips for migrating from Windows to Linux, and each of the major Linux distribution's Web sites include support articles, software you can download, newsletters that you can subscribe to, and online support forums.
As a result of its excellent reputation and (more recently) its improved user friendliness, major computer manufacturers are starting to recognize Linux as an valid alternative to Windows, both for servers and for PCs. In fact, IBM now sells servers that are preinstalled with Linux, and certifies and supports Linux for use on many of its personal computers, while Hewlett-Packard sells servers and PCs with Linux on them, and even Wal-Mart sells some PCs that come with popular Linux distributions instead of Windows.
After spending the past several weeks learning as much as I could about all the Linux distributions mentioned above, I finally decided that the new Mandrake Linux 9.0 was the best choice for me, so I ordered it online at the Mandrake Web site.
For only $69 (U.S.D) plus shipping, I will receive the complete boxed set of the PowerPack Edition, including 2 installation CDs, 2 CDs of commercial applications (including StarOffice 6.0, a $75.95 software suite from Sun Microsystems that competes with Microsoft Office), plus 3 additional CDs of supplementary applications and source code, a quick start guide, and a 200-page user manual.
In other words, for a tiny fraction of the nearly $600 that the Microsoft Office suite costs, I will get a complete Linux operating system with hundreds of other applications, including a complete Microsoft Office-compatible office suite, several Web browsers, an Outlook-like calendar/email/scheduling program that will synchronize with my Palm computer, multimedia software, games, server software, database software, and several image and Web page creation tools. And the installation software will allow me to have Linux either completely replace Windows or share the hard drive with Windows. The latter choice is called a "dual-boot" installation, because it would let me choose between the two operating systems each time I turn on my PC.
Mandrake also offers a Standard Edition for only $30, that includes the 2 installation CDs, 1 CD of commercial applications, and a quick start guide.
Users who have high speed Internet connections and who are confident of their technical skills can download the 2 installation CDs for free.
For a chart that compares all of the Mandrake Linux 9.0 editions, go to http://www.mandrakesoft.com/products/90/comparison
When my order arrives, I hope to dual-boot my PC (Pentium II - 266 MHz) with Linux and my existing Windows 98 SE. That way, I'll be able to keep using all of my Windows applications in Windows while I look for free or low-cost Linux applications to replace them. Time will tell if I'll be able to do it or not, but my goal is to eventually run Linux as the only operating system on my home PC.
Do I recommend that you do like I did, and start trying to make the
switch away from Windows to Linux? Of course not. After all, it took
me over 2 years to finally decide to try Linux. All I ask is that you
start thinking about Linux as a possibility for the future -- hopefully,
a brighter future.
On July 25, 2006, I began using Linux full-time instead of Windows. I'm extremely happy with Linux and I would never go back to using Windows full-time.