Linux/Unix?

Linux is a Freeware version of a Unix type system. It operates just like any pother v ersion of a Unix operating system.

Best way to find out stuff on it is to go to google www.google.com/
and ask for Linux and something like Basic
you'll get all sorts of help.

I would suggest that you use Mandrake 9 as your first attempt to load a machine its the easiest of all on installing.
In fact its probably easier than most windows installs at least in most cases.

To get a copy you can download the stuff ( only if you have broadband. You can also get Cd's from Mandrake

or for cheap guys try EBay.

1) Sun Linux is reported to work fine with intel athlon and has good support, Redhat 9 and Mandrake 9.1 also are quite good and easy to use for set-up.

2) The learning curve with linux can be quite steep. The name of the game is to make sure your hardware and apps you want to do are fully supported. For Hardware and Software compatibility knowlege base , links etc you can visit my site at http://alltechdevelopment.netfirms.com and scroll down to help section on Linux

best of luck Rick

If you are a first time user try mandrake 9
it is the easiest to load. I have used 3 kinda of linux so far and that is the easyist.
ok for documentation you can go to www.mandrake.org and that will have updated docs on Mandrake that you can read. It also wouldnt help for you to go and get a book and read up on it before you install.