Stupid question but is Linux just like Windows in the way it looks and operates?
"Stupid question but is Linux just like Windows in the way it looks and operates?"
It's close, but not identical-
If you would like to see how well it works, and looks, on a machine you are using, get a "live CD"-- a CD that will boot your machine without changing anything on the hard drive.
Two examples?
http://www.ubuntu.com/
http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html
You can order a CD, or better, download the ISO file and burn it to your own disc. Set the PC to boot from the CD drive, and see how you like it.
It is NOT a stupid question. It has a few minor differences, but it a quick learning curve. If you want the EASIEST and BEST distro, I would say download and burn a live cd of MEPIS. It can be found HERE. It is a build from UBUNTU, but it is easier, and is a cleaner install (everything "just works"). You can run it off a live cd to see if you like it. I will never go back to windows.
It can be, it can also look and feel like a mac. In terms of what goes on under the hood its far more like a Mac than it is like windows.
It can look like windows.
But it doesn't have to.
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=kde+3.5&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=1
KDE is similar to windows in that you have a toolbar and a "start" menu.
Linux is a foreign clone of Unix products, not Windows. Therefore it's natively more like Apple's OSX, although some foreign cloners have built a couple of versions that look exactly like Windows, but probably you won't see those here in the states due to threat of lawsuit.