Linux is an operating system like Microsoft Windows. Linux comes in many flavors. Linux is Open Source and is legally free to use and distribute. Linux has applications equivalent to those used in Microsoft Windows and most are free. Many distros (distributions) are very simple to install and run, you need just one CD and no restarts. As many are Live-cum-Install Cds, you can run Linux by booting with the CD and explore before installation. Enjoy the freedom. Linux is not Microsoft Windows It surely is not. It does not take much time to learn the basic applications, you can have a go just after installation, but getting used to an OS different from what you have lived with, needs some time and change of attitude. The guy next door is not likely to provide you help, but then you learn to be self reliant, using a truly Free Operating System, supported by communities spread all over the World. All source code are freely available, legally free, and you can even change the OS to suit your needs. Here on this page we have made short notes on how to download iso files and burn them to Cds. Choose a distribution which can be run Live, run it live and experience Linux before installing it. Please note that Live Cds demand more RAM and are slower than installed OS. To get the feel you can try Puppy Linux and Knoppix , these are designed to run live from CD. Puppy will run with 128 MB RAM and Knoppix shall need 256 MB RAM. Puppy is 95 MB download and Knoppix 700 MB CD packs 2 GB in compressed form. If you have 1 GB RAM, knoppix can run from RAM. These are great as rescue CDs too. Ubuntu CD is run Live, and the same CD can used for installtion. There is a small section on partitioning if you want to install any Linux. Linux can be installed with Microsoft Windows and you can choose your OS at start-up.
DEBIAN and Debian based Linux Distros -
Debian	One of the most stable OS, Live-cum-Install CD	http://www.debian.org/
Ubuntu	Debian based - Currently the No.1 Distro	http://ubuntu.com
Knoppix	Great hardware detection, Live CD/DVD	http://www.knoppix.org/
SimplyMepis	Debian based Live-cum-Install CD	http://www.mepis.org/
Linuxmint	Ubuntu based - HOT	http://www.linuxmint.com
Sidux	Debian sid - Fast , rolling distro, cutting edge	http://www.sidux.com
Kanotix	Debian stable based with good hardware detection	http://kanotix.com
SWITHOVER TO LINUX
It starts with Getting Linux. Next you run the Live CD. If you like it you install it, you can install it along with Windows. You boot with Linux to run Linux and get familiar with it in a few days. You can always boot with Windows when you want. You can either purchase the CD or DVD(normally just 1 needed), or order a free one (Canonical and Sun send you free, they even pay for the postage) if you can wait for 4 to 8 weeks. Most users just download the image files and burn to a CD (or DVD). You can have Linux on your machine withou moving out of you home. The serious new user may start with Ubuntu or PCLinuxOS. Ubuntu has great forum support, and there are 10000+ packages avilable, all free. Installation or removal of programs is easy, you just select and click, packages get dowloaded and installed.
Making Your Own Live Cd
To make your own Live CD (or Live-cum-Install CD) you have to download the .iso file. iso files are generally large files, most Linux iso files are of 700 MB size for CDs (the DVD files can be 4 GB). They are best downloaded using torrents, most distros provide the corresponding torrent files which are about 20 to 30 KB in size. A torrent client (as Bittorrent in Windows) is installed first and then the torrent file is opened in it. The torrent client then downloads the iso file. You can pause and interrupt the download without losing the downloaded data. For direct iso download use a good download manager. At 16 kByte/sec (128 kbit/ses) you get 50 MB in an hour. The iso image is then burned using the 'burn image' command (no data CD or boot CD), I have used InfraRecorder (a free image burner for Windows) with success everytime. Some reccommend slow burning speed of 4X or 8X but I have had no problem with 'Auto' mode where Cds were burned at about 20X speed with dynamic speed control. K3B can be used in Linux to burn images. Many Cds end up as coasters when the iso is not correct or proper image burning procedure is not followed. 1) Download and Install BitTorrent OR utorrent http://www.bittorrent.com/download http://www.utorrent.com/ 2) Download and install any iso burner as InfraRecorder OR burncdcc in Windows. http://infrarecorder.sourceforge.net/ http://burncdcc.en.softonic.com/ You can use K3B in Ubuntu, if you do no have it, you can install it using add/remove. 3) Download the torrent file for the iso The torrent file will have a .torrent extension and shall be a small file, say 25 KB. Click on the torrent file, you can use the link given here. You can save it or just open it. Open the torrent file in your BitTorrent client. Download shall start. It can take quite a few hours depending on your download speed. 4) Burning the iso to CD When the download is complete, insert a blank CD into your CD writer. Open you CD burner, click on 'burn image' command and select the iso file (not the torrent file). Do not unzip the iso file. Do not burn as Data CD. Do not burn as bootable CD. Do nothing else. Set speed to AUTO . Keep verification enabled. Do not set high manual speed (Mxm. 8X). Burn in DAO mode..
Running the Live CD
Place the CD in the CD drive and restart your machine. Go to your BIOS to make sure that your 1st boot is from the CD. Most computers use the 'DEL' key to enter BIOS, but see at the bottom of the page after power up tp know your key, it is 'F2' in my desktop. Press the key to go to BIOS. Select CD Drive as first boot and save. Once your PC boots up from CD you will see different options. Running a CD live will not affect your hard disk. Live CDs normally run much slower that installed OS, but some distros are designed to run as Live CD.
Partitions - Applies to all Linux distributions.
Please take a little time to understand about partitions before you install Linux. We shall shortly add more details. Meanwhile you can see the page on partitioning at .psychocats.net Linux needs at least two partitions, one root parttition marked as / , and a SWAP partition that is used somewhat as RAM. All program and data files reside in root, data in /home/<user> which normally resides in root unless you make a separate /home partition. The / partition contains the kernels and the system files. It also contains the added program files. . A better and strongly recommended way is to have at least 3 partitions 6 GB to 12 GB for / root (minimum 4 GB) in ext3 format , 1-2 GB for SWAP (minimum 512MB reccommended) and rest as /home, ext3 format. The home partion shall contain all your data and you can reinstall OS (or install some other OS easily if and when needed. If you have Microsoft Windows and want to retain it, let it reside, use the rest of the space for Linux and any other data partitions. You will be able to use both Ubuntu (linux) and Windows, obviously one at a time. This gives you the chance to use and evaluate Linux and use any program in Windows that has no suitable substitute in Linux. You can use any partition you have or you can resize any partition to free up space. You resize to create more partitions. If you are going to install both Microsoft Windows and Linux, install Microsoft Windows first. If you resize any Windows partition with data and do not want to delete the data (or program files too as in case you have just one partition and have Windows on it), you have to defragment the partition in Windows first so that all files go to the beginning of the partition. If your RAM is less than 512MB, it is advisable to make the SWAP partition first before running the Live CD. You can download GPARTED, burn its image to a CD, boot with it and edit partitions. GParted is available here- http://gparted.sourceforge.net/ You can find information on Partitioning with GParted here http://www.howtoforge.com/partitioning_with_gparted The Live-cum-installation CDs come with partition editors that are used during installation. There are 'auto' modes, but 'manual' mode is preferred by most users.No repartitioning shall be needed during installation if you choose right ones with GParted. It is strongly recommended to backup all your important data before partitioning or installation.
Useful Links
Partitioning HDD with GParted		http://www.howtoforge.com/partitioning_with_gparted
Help from Ubuntu Community (Guide)		https://help.ubuntu.com/community
Lessons in Linux		http://www.linux.org/lessons/
Migrating to Linux, info on distros, packages		http://linuxmigration.tk/
Reading material on Ubuntu		http://librenix.com/?page=Ubuntu
The Linux Kernel		http://tldp.org/LDP/tlk/tlk.html
Linux Kernel Newbies		http://kernelnewbies.org/
Make separate Home Partition (if you do not have one)		http://ubuntu.wordpress.com/2006/01/...own-partition/
The Linux Cook Book		http://dsl.org/cookbook/cookbook_toc.html
ext2fs driver to read/write ext2/ext3 from MS Windows		http://www.fs-driver.org/
Read Write NTFS Driver to read & write from Linux		http://dsl.org/cookbook/cookbook_toc.html
How To Enable NTFS Write Support (ntfs-3g) On Ubuntu Feisty		http://www.howtoforge.com/ntfs_3g_ubuntu_feisty
This site has Links to a few online books		http://www.linux-books.us/linux_general.php
Open Office is available for Windows too.		http://www.openoffice.org
Plug in for MS Office to read odf (open document format)		http://www.sun.com/software/star/openoffice/
Plug in for MS Office to read odf from Microsoft		http://odf-converter.sourceforge.net/
CHM viewers for Gnome and KDE		http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/open-chm-file-under-linuxfreebsd/
Free Linux Programming Books.		http://www.techbooksforfree.com/linux.shtml
Re-master Ubuntu		http://www.cyberpunkcafe.com/page.php?31
GNU/Linux Desktop Survival Guide		http://www.togaware.com/linux/survivor/