I am sick of Microsoft and Bill Gates! I am sick of reformatting my computer every three months because Windows is awlful... so, I will be running linux, but need some advice. I will be a new user to linux and don't know much about which linux based OS will be most straight forward to use. I am not a gamer, however, I do use word processing and the internet a lot. Can you offer me any advice on which linux OS may be the best for me? Additionally, in respect to applications, compadibility is a concern. I will be in contact with various people that do not have linux OS or programs. Therefore, I need to have word processing and spreadsheet applications that are compatible with Microsoft Office. Are there good linux programs that can intrepret Microsoft documents and visa versa? Any advice on OS/applications you have would be much appreciated.

Sounds like your in a very similar posistion to me. I'm a network administrator on an all Microsoft network (used to have an AIX machine but it died). I've just installed Mandrake 9.2, I chose it mainly because it's got a reputation for being easy to install. (I have run a laptop which complicates things a bit.) It also includes open office wich is compatable with most microsoft office formats (not mdb if I remember correctly) and I also use it in XP. Have a try of some of the live CD distros. knoppix is probably the best known, and according to a review I read its one of the best 3 along with mandrakemove and slax. Damn Small Linux is a cut down knoppix distro and is quite impressive at only 50mb. Allan

I recommend Mandrake or Suse. They're both very user-friendly. As far as your Office app requirements go, you can use Open Office, which will open and save as MS Office documents. My opinion is that it's better than MS Office. You could also just install MS Office. There's a product called Crossover Office (codeweavers.com) that'll allow you to do this. At home I have it installed using a program called Wine, which Crossover is based on. The performance isn't as good, but the program is free. (winehq.com)

My Recomendation: Redhat 7.3 + updates and Ximian Desktop 2.0 Addon. www.redhat.com www.ximian.com enjoy Steve