is the unix o.s, good for home use? and can i play windows based games on it? how much does it cost and where do i buy it? is it easy to run/operate? is it good for kids who know the basics about computers?

I think UNIX is a mainframe OS, but for PCs there's Linux which was cloned from it. If you already used DOS, Linux is easy to understand and the GUI is part of it(with desktop and icons). I have dualboot of Linux and NT at home and now spend more time with Linux. I'm not sure if Windows games will work, but Linux comes with lot of games. The price depends on which Linux distribution you like(it comes from different companies). I bought my first Linux OS from www.linuxmall.com, but you can also check the local computer stores. Someone can also download it free from the Internet if he knows how to deal with that(ex: www.redhat.com). If the kids don't care about "point and click" I believe Linux can do whatever Windows does. You'll see that it over-performs Windows 98. Remember that unlike Windows, Linux OS components weren't made by one company. It's the pure ideas of genius, generous computer programmers. I'm not associated with any of them and hope that helps you little bit. Good luck

I agree for the most part except that UNIX being Mainframe. Midrange would better describe UNIX Sun Sparcs are a good example(put Intel into the dust but not quit an IBM Mainframe). A good example of a Mainframe OS is VMS. Unix can no doubt run heavy duty stuff but I think a Cray will get me to put tin foil on my head someday. If you want a Unix desktop then Linux(technically not UNIX and this is more of a legal issue)is perfect. I think I would try Corel Linux in your event as it is the most desktop oriented. It should be on time for Christmass. Lastly on i386 freeBSD, NetBSD, openBSD, Solaris fit just fine but are not ideal as clients. For games you may need to dual boot, but games are already starting to popup on Linux.