like the title says i want to get linux to have a go at it. Is it any good??

You can download it from www.redhat.com if you have broadband, otherwise you can order a copy from www.cheapbytes.com for as little as £5.00.

Redhat & Mandrake probly be good for a new user (there are many more but this is what i have exp from) a good site to check out that i found for downloading are http://old.linuxiso.org/ http://old.lwn.net/Distributions/

edmunds-computing.net is a good source also for low budget Linux distributions. They have the lastest versions of Mandrake 9.0 and Redhat 8.0. I bought both, and I installed Mandrake 9.0 on two of my machines, Both currently up and running in dual boot, [ one Windows ME, mandrake 9.0, 266Mhz, AMDK6, 196mb ram], [the other Windows XP Pro, Mandrake 9.0, Pent IV, 512MB ram]. I had no problems at either end of the computer hardware spectrum [ illustrated above] getting the base op sys installed includeing the dual boot loader. But I had some different idiosyncrasies regarding peripheral support after op sys install. I would have installed RED HAT but unfortuneately the media I bought is corrupted so I couldn't install Redhat. I wanted to put Mandrake on one machine and redhat on another so I could do a comparitive analysis, etc. But.... All said and one I like Mandrake!!! Not neccesarily a statement that it is better then Red Hat, simply a real nice, package, easy install, comphrehensive suite of apps, comparable to Red Hat, and similar GUI features.

is linux better than windows. i dont know much abvout linux and i would like to know what it is and some disadvantages and advantages of using it. Can u run programs that you would run in windows on it? Is it really worth it aND WOULD IT RUN ON AN OLD CRAP MACHINE?? i have a machine that is new but im using XP on that!

Ashley, If Linux is 'better than' windows depends on your own needs. If you're used to windows and want to switch to linux, you'll find that almost all the software you use in windows is available in linux too (normal software I mean)... and more! The problem for me is however the need to run programs as MatLab (since I'm a student), which as far as I know are only available for windows. That program and others is why I run a dual boot and didn't switch to linux entirely. So if you would like to try Linux, you can also run a dual boot if you like (or you can install it on your old machine, as you said). Anyway, I run XP and Debian and it runs very well. Just reboot if you need to switch to another system. If you want to look at all the different distro's (some are easy to install, some are more configurable, but also harder to install), take a look at: www.distrowatch.com Good luck, Remco

Remco- http://www.osl.iu.edu/research/gnatlab/