Or, if you’ve got a broadband connection, you can download it in an hour or so.
I heartily endorse the Ubuntu recommendation. I set it up on my computer a few weeks ago, in a dual-boot system with Windows XP. I wanted a dual-boot system because i’m using a few programs that i really need Windows for, and i also wanted to give myself plenty of time to get used to Linux. I consider my transition to Linux to be a slow, medium-to-long-term process.
If you’re going to keep a dual-boot system, you’ll need to partition your hard drive/s. Now, you can do this during the Ubuntu installation process, but i actually did it first using the excellent GPartEd partitioning tool. Burn yourself a GPartEd live CD, pop it in the computer, boot up, and you’re ready to go. It’s quite easy to use, but if you want some instructions, there’s a decent little YouTube video here. There’s also a decent tutorial here.
You’ll need to reduce the size of your Windows partition (defrag Windows a couple of times first), then allocate a partition for the Linux swap file, a root (/) partition for your Linux installation, and as many other partitions as you want/need for data. Keeping your installation (Windows, Linux) relatively small, and separate from your data storage partitions, means that if either OS craps out later, you can format those partitions and reinstall without losing your files and other stuff.
I have a 160Gb hard drive, and a 320Gb hard drive in my computer, and my partitions look like this:
HDD1 (160Gb):
1 x 40Gb NTFS Windows partition (drive C: )
1 x 12Gb EXT3 partition (/ for Ubuntu)
1 x 1.5Gb linux-swap partition
1 x ~50Gb NTFS partition
1 x ~50Gb EXT3 partiton (/home for Ubuntu)
HDD2 (320Gb)
2 x ~50Gb NTFS partitions
2 x ~50Gb FAT32 partitions
2 x ~50Gb EXT3 partitions
I went with this setup initially so i had plenty of hard drive space that Windows could read and write (NTFS and FAT32), and plenty that Linux could read and write (EXT3 and FAT32). Linux can read NTFS, and can now allegedly write to it as well, but i’ve read some accounts where the latter has caused problems, so as a Linux newbie i see no reason to tempt fate. If my storage needs change over time, i can reformat one or more of my storage partitions.
The Ubuntu installation was extremely simple and straightforward, and once it was up and running it detected virtually all my hardware and my network settings without a hitch. The internet (running through a router) worked perfectly with no fiddling whatsoever, and i was browsing the web using Firefox straight away. It detected my SoundBlaster sound card fine too. The GRUB loader also worked perfectly, allowing me to easily boot into either Linux or Windows when i turn my computer on.
One thing that took me a little while to set up was my second monitor. This required installing a binary driver for my nVidia graphics card, setting up an option called TwinView (nVidia cards only), and tweaking my xorg.conf file. This took a little while, but the Ubuntu forums had excellent instructions, and it was just a matter of taking it slowly, one step at a time.
One thing that almost drove me crazy for a while was the issue of permissions. Permission to write to different hard drives works differently in Linux than in Windows, and it took me quite a few frustrating hours to work out how to get write access to my extra EXT3 and FAT32 partitions. This involves editing a file called fstab, and is made more complicated by the fact that the fstab permission commands for EXT3 partitions are apparently different than those for FAT32partitions. For example, the umask instruction works for FAT32 but not for EXT3. It took plenty of Googling to work this out. If you have trouble with any of this, i have a bunch of bookmarked links that will help you deal with the fstab file, and with permissions in general.
I have a Samsung ML-2010 mono laser printer, and setting it up was very easy.
When i get something working in Linux, i make a list of all the places where i found instructions, and a copy of any of the files that i configured. So, for example, if i ever need to go back and set up my dual monitors again, i have links to all the instruction pages, as well a a copy of the xorg.conf settings i used to get it working. Same with permissions: i have all the links, and a copy of the fstab setting that worked.
Downloading and installing software has generally been a very easy process, via the Synaptic package manager, and via a program called Automatix. One thing i haven’t really been able to get a handle on yet is WINE, which allows some Windows programs to run under Linux. I’m going to need to spend some time working on that, as i’d really like to get Endnote, and maybe even Photoshop working in Linux.
But for most regular, day-to-day stuff, Linux has plenty of software to keep most people happy. I browse using Firefox, and i use Kontact/Kmail as an email client/address book/organizer. It’s great. I don’t like Ubuntu’s default media player very much, so i’m using Kaffeine, which is quite similar in operation to the Media Player Classic that i use on Windows. I used Automatix to get all the audio and video codecs i needed, and my Linux setup now has no problem playing mpeg, mp3, avi/DivX/XVid, and even Windows Media files.
(You might notice that a few of my programs start with a K. The were originally developed for the KDE Linux environment, although they work fine under Ubuntu’s GNOME environment too. But i’m actually contemplating getting rid of my Ubuntu and substituting Kubuntu)
Anyway, that’s my experience with Linux/Ubuntu so far. I’m still using Windows for a lot of things, and Linux is still a hobby and a work in progress; i don’t want to make the complete switch until i’m fully confident with it. But i’m really enjoying using it, and it really is nice to boot up your computer and know that your using all open-source software (well, except for the Windows Media codecs 
).
