[goldstategop]

Xandros has a short learning curve. 99% of the time, you click and run an application. Even installing software is easy, although you have to set up the shortcuts and icons and install them into the Programs menu yourself. But Linux is rock-solid, consumes little in the way of active CPU resources and is immune to the viruses, worms, malware and spyware that's the plague of Windows. And virtually all of the software is available for free.

[69ConvertibleFirebird]

I agree that Linux has great potential. But, being a current user of Red Hat Linux I couldn't possibly recommend it to anyone but a near-expert computer user. It just doesn't have the support base for all of the hardware out there. I know for a fact that it will NOT work with my laptop's built in wireless network card. I'm going to keep using it, in a dual boot fashion, but I can't imagine the frustration (and expense) that a novice would have to go through to get Linux up and running on anything but a VERY standard, desktop, computer configuration. Add something new and different and forget it...

Just my experience so far, being an expert, using Linux for NASA development...