if you got Digg, spread the word: http://digg.com/linux_unix/9_1_2_weeks_with_Ubuntu

I think most people share the same opinion, you don't need a big manual to start working with windows and it might not come with a lot of (productive) applications, but it can do most things straigth out of the box.

The main problem with linux is that there is too much of it, there's absolutely no standard for doing basic tasks; let's take the most important thing, installing applications. You have make-scripts, rpm-packages, slackware-packages, debian/ubuntu-packages ... and most applications are only available in one or two flavours :no: .
Windows is more easy, there are different kinds of installer (more like brands) but all of them work on (almost) every windows installation ! Now that's easy ;-D .

Despite all the negative words I've just typed, I'll probably try out openSuse these vacations :) . I've heard some good things about it and it's worth trying, if it sucks, I simple put the hdd back on the shelf where it's catching dust atm :-p

Can't argue with free, so nothing lost except time spent. I've not tried the latest incarnations of Ubuntu, but one review I read mentioned that the reason it still doesn't play mp3, wma, or simular media out of the box is because they don't fall in the open source arena. Hence they'll never be included.

Jumping in headfirst into using a Mac OS X box was frankly easier, and that was with the Mac keyboard differences included! I only had to ask a person how to bring up right-click menus and after that I was doing my work on the Mac's in the school lab just fine, after about 10 minutes of trial and error with the interface. One-button mac mice are the worst invention ever... :D

http://www.linux.com/feature/122681

I don't mean to sound excessively negative. Ubuntu is much nicer than Windows in many ways -- the feel of the desktop, the built-in functionality, the available software through APT, the ease of working with certain aspects of the Windows office environment I'm in. Free software is also extremely important to me, and of considerable interest to my organisation.
But the integration just isn't as slick and easy as I had hoped. With each step I have had to spend more time messing around with settings, or just working around missing functionality, than I do in Windows XP. I'm sure some of my stumbling blocks have answers, but they weren't there by default, nor easy for me to find. This poses a problem for my organization: the only way to make a migration really work would be to switch the servers first to eliminate compatibility issues, and then to do a really comprehensive refit of the desktops with lots of retraining. This is certainly a possibility, but with the constraints of a charity IT budget (where funding for long-term investments is difficult to come by, and where software licensing is relatively cheap) it's going to take considerable political will from management to justify a wholesale migration.

Agreed! :D

I like how once you've learned some of the tricks behind Linux, the power you now control is rather... immense.

If you're on the lookout for thriving Linux communities, a large number exist these days.

I especially like Linux Questions, USA LUG, and the Ubuntu Forums (assuming you're running Ubuntu). Each major Linux flavor should have its own forums with lots of knowledgeable egg heads ready and willing to help you out with whatever problem you may be having with Linux. You must remember that whatever issue you're having isn't the first time a lot of these guys heard of it. ;)

Linux has gotten to the point where some of my non-technical friends can sit down at a PC, browse the Internet to pay bills, check e-mails, whatever, and not even realize they are using something other than a Windows operating system! ;-D

excellent tips:
http://www.danielandrade.net/2007/11...ng-ubuntu-710/