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Good for you. Unfortunately, despite many years of My touting the benefits of Linux, it still lags far behind the old version of 'Doze I am running, which 'Just Works'. If Linux could address at least two issues that I need for My daily work, I would switch over in a heartbeat. Namely a gui'd program that works essentially the way My free version of Agnitum Outpost Firewall does (like ATGuard, for those of you familiar with it) and the ability to run My preferred CAD program -those few (ok, ONE) that are compiled for Linux being a far cry from the functionality and useability of their 'Doze counterparts.

And do not get Me started on bloated current releases that take up three CDs, minimal memory requirements of at least 128 Megs (after all, EVERYONE has THAT!), minimal useable resolutions starting at 1024x768 (after all, EVERYONE uses THAT!) and lessening support for older machines -like say, slower than 800MHz processors. Not to mention 'bootable distros' that only recognize PS/2 mice and do not see a standard Serial Mouse despite that being the default for years before, default gui configs that run just barely faster than a tortoise on a hot date, and 'You have selected a resolution that is not recognized' (the video card is not recognized) on the so-called 'bootable' CD.

And do not even get Me started on the topic of distros that need either a constant high-speed connection to the Net to install, or boot-from-CD options that do not take into account that there are some machines whose BIOSs' do not have provide that option.

I mean bloody 'ell! I still have a laptop with eight megs onboard (NOT upgreadable) that chugs along contentedly with W95OSR2 installed -but chokes and dies with any version of Linux that I have tried.

Of course, I still have not tried that old reliable distro of RedHat 4.2 that has served Me so admirably in the past. Then again, if I just wanted to run an old distro I could just stay with the MS setup originally on it...

Linux is absolutely NOT ready for the desktop as far as I can see.