hello,, i currently have Window XP, which working fine but have a few feature i don't like :).. Well im deciding to change to Linux since i heard a lot of people recommending it, say how good and powerful it is!?.. since proformance is the main issue for me and user-friendly is a must :)) i would like know what is the really good feature for LINUX from the others OS.! which seperated it form the rest, and how good is Linus on networking??

Well I would guess Linus is pretty good at networking since he is a person (sorry couldn't resist guess a typo). Linux is great with networks (easier/faster than win) with no hassle ((unlike XP - had my linux connected to my cable modem is seconds XP took two hours) It is fast,secure,relieable and you can configure everything (if you know where to look - everything is documented online as well) There is soo many different gui's (unlike with MS OS where you just have windows (My choice is Gnmoe and Windowmaker - windowmaker small and quick - good if I have a period where I am writing alot of doc ) There is a myth that is hard to add hardware - true to an extent but is getting better - recompiling kernel not nessecary but help optimise system - not that ahrd once you give it a try BBest bbet is give it a try, if you like it great if not stick with win - use what is best for you - that is the whole point of competition - something MS lost sight of a long time ago

Most of all it depends on whether you're ready to live thorough times thinking: "What, why and how?". I dropped my second partition just three days ago to set up Red Hat 7.2 and I love it- The point on hardware is, getting it to work as long is no problem, as it's supportet, if not it's gonna be a great struggle with little chances to succeed. For example, Linux supports my network-card (I'm connected to the web by a cable modem), started up the very first time and the internet-connection worked without me having to do anything about it. Second point, I've got a GeForce2 MX, before installation's really started Linux Setup allready recognized that- voilą. That's some comfort. On the other hand, don't ask how much browsing it took to install the first program I downloaded. How to set it up and compile it. Now, on day three, I feel very good using Linux (since that have not even once boot win98), but I know there's a_lot_to_learn, so that the system really runs as smooth and secure as Linux could. You asked what the advantages were. First, if set up right, it's faster, second it_CAN_be more secure, third point: you can change and modify about any program-routine, fourth it's a little bit like playing lego back in the days and even if yor skills at the moment don't match what it takes to do all of that (like it's in my case :) for fifth, it's NOT windows and you (don't know your level of CPU-experience) will recognize (maybe for the first time) what your computer really does. Just give it a try, probably you gonna love it. with best regards, so long, Stephan

If user-friendly is a must, I would say, stick with windows... Not that linux is user-unfriendly (or how do you say that?), but as stephan already said, it takes a lot of reading before you can do as much and as quick like you are used to in windows. I trew away linux several times because I was tired of searching in all the online manuals and still not finding the one I needed, but I keep returning after a few weeks/months and every time, I enjoy the moment that I succeeded in doing something that I couldn't get done before. I keep using windows for everyday work, but I like playing with linux (and learning al lot from it!!!) and maybe one day, I'll trow away windows instead of linux... Johan

I have read several articles by linux people saying that it should have a better way of navigating networks like Windows has. (Network Neighborhood)

that's true, you can control everything (while you have to search a lot in windows to find something here and something there, and still not being able to configure everything manually.). But that doesn't say it's easy to do that, although connecting to a network is very easy. For setting up network/web-servers is more knowledge of linux required and you'll have to configure programs by editing configurationfiles, while in windows, most of these things are done by wizards, but again, wizards make all sort of choices without letting you know, so when something goes wrong, have fun digging out the prob. Linux is created to be transparent, so that you can see when something goes wrong and where. Johan

i started using linux when i got a new computer and could do whatever with our old one. I had been reading alot about linux and stuff, and was expecting it to be monster hard to install. I guess since i read so much before trying it i found it a breeze installing it. I learned a lot about computers in general by trying linux. i plan on making a second partition on our new computer and installing slackware 8 (its not as hard as they say it is :). hopefully i can get the modem working on it (only prob i had w/ old computer). What i like is that linux is frickin configurable; the reason it takes so long to install is because you get to choose from soooo much software (windows doesn't let you choose anything and then you have to install/download all the usefull stuff after "installation")