Salutations, I'll be completely honest. I don't know a thing about UNIX and want to know what it is. I know that it is an OS, but is it GUI, like Windows? Or is it text-based like DOS? I'd like to branch out and learn about different kinds of operating systems, rather than use just windows. So if I could get some info, or a link telling me about UNIX, I'd really appreciate it. Also, does anyone know where I can get a copy of it? I heard it was free, but I don't know if there is any truth to that, or not.

There are many Unix and Unix like operating systems for a variety of hardware. If you want something free that will run on intel hardware, look at freebsd and linux. Some sources are available through www.distrowatch.com. Most have a text interface as the core with an optional GUI on top of the text interface. There are also lots of free productivity packages available. Openoffice.org ships a product that is read-write compatible with M$ for free.

Hello, I understand that linux is based on Unix, but is there just a unix OS. I guess the best way to learn about unix is to just get a copy and start experimenting and reading.

"UNIX" is just a trademark owned by The Open Group. If an OS complies with some standards, the company producing it can ask/pay for the rights to include "UNIX" in the name of their OS. For example, Compaq Tru 64, IBM AIX, Sun Solaris, SCO UnixWare, and HP HP-UX can all be called UNIX. The free OSs like Linux and the BSDs are all "UNIX-like" because they don't have permission to use the trademarked name, even though they're very UNIX-like. Which version of UNIX you use depends on what kind of hardware you have and what you want to do with it. FreeBSD and a non-free product based on it, BSD/OS, are known for stability, keeping large hosting sites up for years. OpenBSD is known for security, with only one remote hole in the default install in the last seven years. NetBSD runs on exotic hardware. Linux, like NetBSD runs on just about everything, scales from a palm PC to some of the largest supercomputers in the world, and is probably the best UNIX for a desktop computer because of the wide selection of software. Solaris is known for security, stability, and excellent support from Sun.

FreeBSD Unix is also the engine underneath the Apple Mac OSX GUI, and a fine job it makes of it too.