Linux

Does anyone use or have knowledge of the operating system, Linux.....Is it a good system, a right royal pain, easy, difficult to use, secure, wide open for burglars ?

Me, I'll reply properly when I get home but in the mean time what's your level of computer knowledge? it can get a bit techy depending on what you want to do

I think I have a reasonable knowledge of computer systems, but it does sometimes take a while for the penny to drop, and I do struggle a bit to understand the language of computer programme writers

What do you use your pc for and what applications do you want to use, is there any certain applications you must use and don't want to use an alternative

Hi Ken, don't know if I want to use it, but would like to learn about this system, as I have only recently learned of it's existence.

Better with a desktop rather than a laptop, easier to find drivers and you can change individual items easier.
I started off with Suse then tried Fedora and ended up with Ubuntu and once tried a Gentoo install which you build from scratch but give up after a couple of days, still on the desktop and I might try again one day.
your best option is to try with a live CD, you run it direct from the CD, it is slower doing it this way but you can see if you like the system before you do an install, and if you do decide to install it your better off making it dual boot to start with, you can easily switch between operating systems then.

Cheers Ken, I'll have a look at that, a neighbour of mine is doing an assessment of ubuntu and another one called slack.....something, he got a virus through windows and is not amused.

Hi Ken, My neighbor has got Linux mint on a separate computer and so far is looking very promising, he tried the 32 bit first but had some issues, but on 64 bit it is working brilliantly. So studying this one and reading everything I can to try and understand this OS, and I think I will be trying it out soon.