Leaving Windows Behind

For many, Windows is the only operating system. But we know this isn't true, as Mac OS X has gained in popularity in recent years, and even Linux has been making headway. So today I want to talk about migrating from Windows to Linux. Up until this point all of my articles, while applicable to other operating systems at their core, were written specifically about OpenSolaris. OpenSolaris, to me, has been a very smooth transition. I don't know getting frustrated, and for the most part have known enough about Linux to avoid getting frustrated in the first place. That being said, for someone wanting to switch to Linux for the first time, OpenSolaris may not be the best bet. Linux is supported by a much larger group, and thus issues are more supported. That being said, lets dive.

Reasons to switch to Linux:
1) Secretly you're a nerd, and want to expand on this
2) You dislike Microsoft
3) You like control over your computer in a way that neither Apple or Microsoft would ever dare allow.
4) You don't like security risks
5) Linux is fun and extremely capable

If you have other reasons, use them, and justify your move. While both Mac OS X and Linux have a shared past, with Unix, they differ in a few ways. For one, Linux is Open Source from top to bottom. That means that everything you're using has been used by a lot of people who know computers better than most people and has been nitpicked over for bugs, becuase they have control. If someone finds a bug, they usually don't submit a bug report form, they dive into the source, the actual code that creates something, and fix it. This means its secure because holes are fixed rapidly, and there is a lot of indepth testing by the community. This makes it much more secure than OSX because its updated often by users who know what it needs without worrying about saving face. Its more secure than Windows because of the same reasons, but like OSX is such a small percentage, noone cares to exploit flaws.

So the easiest way to get into Linux is a Live Boot disc. Live boot discs are placed in your cd-rom tray and your computer is rebooted, and it boots without touching your current filesystem and will run Linux! Hooray! Unfortunately this is slower than a real install, and you can't save anything (for the most part). But it will give you an opportunity to see if you like it, see if your hardware works, and to show off to your other friends who also are secretly nerds. That being said, Linux is not one operating system, its a lot of them, with each being referred to as a "Distro". For new users, the best distro would probably be Ubuntu, a very user friendly operating system with lots of tools that act like their Windows counterparts. To get Ubuntu, go here.

Linux is moving in many directions at once, and Ubuntu is one direction that is very user friendly. Linux offers word processing, email clients, web browsing, flash players, music players, and many other fantastic programs. Another very good distro that looks and feels like Windows is Mint Linux. I'd also suggest trying this out. One of the best things about Linux is the experimentation of different distros, and programs. Mint Linux can be downloaded here.

Keep in mind that Linux is free, as are most programs for it. If you have questions or concerns, please comment below.