just to let anyone know that's interested in trying Linux,try using Knoppix,it's boots from a cd and write's nothing at all to hard disk,so if you want to try Linux out before installing just try Knoppix at :www.knopper.net/knoppix/

I agree. Knoppix is a great way to try out Linux without lots of time and pain. www.knopper.net/knoppix/ After using it for a couple of weeks, I finally decided to do a full install of Debian. I wish other Distros would pick up on this idea and give us a chance to compare them in action before commiting to do a full installation. Just for the sake of "equal time" there are other live Linux CD's, but none of them even come close to Knoppix. Here is a list. http://old.lwn.net/Distributions/index.php3#cd

Whoops. That was the old LWN List - here's the new one. http://lwn.net/Distributions/index.php3#cd

This gives one a feel of it. Nothing is saved when you turn it off. If you really want to learn, go for Red Hat, Mandrake. Have a look at rhce2b.com to see what it takes to be a RHCE.

Red Hat,Mandrake,etc.involve install,partition then find if all your hardware works,but shove in a Knoppix cd you get to see straight away if your hardware works and if it does,or you like what you see then you can take the plunge without ever having risked anything in the first place. };-)

You can save any files that you create with the CD. I have created and saved text files, bookmark files, spreadsheet files PDF files, image files and lots more including all my configuration settings. I can also browse the internet create, edit and play music files, burn CD's and print to local or network printers. I'm not sure what you meant when you wrote "Nothing is saved when you turn it off." Of course, you cannot save to the CD. You need an HDD, floppy, CDR etc. Just like any other system. My goal is not to earn my living with an RHCE, I already have a life. What I don't have is a lot of time, and this disk has saved me lots of it. It also saved my butt when my RH disk crashed on a business trip.

Read this post and gave it a try. Works surprisingly well (I'm writing this post from Knoppix). You can save files to the recognized parititions (knoppix warns about trying to do this with NTFS though). The trick is that you need to change the read/write permissions on the mounted volume (may also needed to be mounted). Right click on partition (i.e., hda1 etc) and select "change read/write mode". By default Knoppix mounts these volumes in read-only mode.