Thanks Skyler~ I have one question,undoubtedly a stupid one..do you have to get rid of windows all together to install Ubuntu? Thanks

No question is stupid, when you're in unfamiliar territory. It's actually a question I get asked a lot. The short answer to your question is "no". There are many ways you can use Linux without removing Windows from your computer.Many people start off "dual-booting" which is simply having an option when you turn on the computer to choose whether you want to run Windows or Linux. Some people will use "Live CDs" (which is a method I recomend, for the first few times).

A "live CD" is basically running linux without installing anything on your computer. You simply put the CD in your computer, reboot your computer and you'll be running Ubuntu, and then when you're done trying it out, simply reboot the computer again (remove the CD) and you'll be running Windows again. When you use a Live CD though, you'll notice it is extremely slow. This isn't because Linux, or Ubuntu is slow, it's because your CD drive is MUCH slower than your hard drive. (if you choose to install it to your hard drive, it'll be MUCH faster than Windows ever was.)

The third option is one I used before I started using Linux full time. It's called "Virtualization". While it is a bit more difficult to set up, you'll be able to use both Windows, and Linux at the same time. It won't be as fast as a regular install, but it will be faster than using a live CD in most cases. Virtualization software is free from many companies, most notably is VMware, and Microsoft. I would recommend Microsoft Virtual Server for most beginers. Once you install the software, you can then install a "virtual linux instance". Once your virtual linux desktop is installed, you can simply start Microsoft Virtual Server and you'll see Ubuntu as if it were your native desktop. You can pause what you are doing in Linux and go back to Windows (without rebooting your computer) and do what ever you'd like to in Windows. While this seems like the best option, I don't recommend this for most people, because of the difficulty in setting it up.

If you have any other questions, don't be afraid to look silly. I've done my share of asking questions that in retrospect seem out right dumb, but if I never asked, I wouldn't have known, and wouldn't be where I am today.

Thanks! I ordered the CD~ so in a few weeks you may be hearing from me!

 No problem Sage, I'm just a call or e-mail away fi you need help

 I have to be an odd-ball... not only have I been using Linux for a decade, it's Slackware Linux to boot, heh (that makes sense to us Linux geeks in the crowd BTW). Most of my machines are Linux native and I run Windows in a virtual machine when needed. I use VMware Player at home (100% free) and VMware Virtual Infrastructure at work (very much not free, heh). The only Windows native machine I have is my tablet PC because the tablet support is not quite up to snuff yet on the Linux side (I've yet to find an open-source program that does what OneNote does).

 Not trying to out-do your GNU/Linux cred... what the #€%* is One Note for anyways? I know it's an M$ Office product, but is it just some wierd collaberation tool? I have a native windows machine too (an old iPac Desktop -P3, 700Mhz) I use it for the odd gadgets, like my Jabra 8010, or on the occasional site that requires Internet Exploder (

to name one). I'm the guy who always has the odd gadget nobody's seen before, so having to use windows on one machine is a MUST from time to time, but luckily this Nokia N810 I'm posting this from... well, you already know.

'Nuff said? I've been using it since Hamm, and still talk to K6BP.

 OneNote can be used for collaboration, but the thing I use it for is full screen handwriting recognition. In other apps, handwriting recognition is restricted to the onscreen keyboard at the bottom and the stylus acts as a mouse for the rest of the app. In OneNote, you can set the stylus to handwriting mode and it will convert handwriting to text when you tell it to, so you can write a whole page then tell it to convert to text. I use this quite extensively as I find it a lot more natural to write on a "page" than in the input box of the onscreen keyboard. You can also set it to picture mode to draw, highlighter mode to highlight existing text/pictures and mouse mode to move elements around or select menu options.