So it has the ability to be very stable fast and generally good, though it may be a bit light on available applications particularly the more specialized ones if you are interested in going down that track.
BSD comes in several different flavors but are basically all the same though I'm sure that the people that are deeply into BSD will see that differently and expound the virtues of the different versions of the product. The Core OS however has been around long enough to have gone through the Legal Mess that M$ is currently attempting to push onto Linux and with the exception of the KDE Desktop it has come out the other end untouched and proven legal.
Linux on the other hand is more geared to the Development end of the market and while some different Distro's or Makers have a multitude of available software available they also have a Club or something similar that you need to join to have access to their Libraries of software. They also have a Free to download product that is exactly that and most will offer a Service Agreement for support if required well actually everyone except Debian which is a Free Development Platform that is the stable base that everything int he Linux Community is compared to.
Which way you proceed is entirely Dependant on what you want to actually do with a computer and a Linux or BSD Install as there are 2 distinct types of both the Single CD or DVD install which has everything copied to a single CD or DVD and then the Multi CD or DVD products that cover several CD's or DVD's and have a lot more software available as well as both Server and Desktop products.
You can go one step further here with the Single Disc Distro's and use what is called a [b]Live Linux[/b] which means that the individual Distro Boots off the CD or DVD and runs everything in RAM and behaves like a Virtual Computer with the ability to save what you have done to either a HDD or other removable media.
Depending on your experience most people start off with some form of a Live Distro and after playing around with several of these find one that suits their needs best and then they can either install to a HDD that version or download a full copy of it depending on what the individual Distro actually is. Generally speaking it's easier to get the single Disc's to load and run all of the hardware though there are still some issues with some hardware but this is generally restricted to some Printers and WiFi cards other wise just about everything will work properly unless it is something very new so it's possible to have any thing like a Video Card that has recently been released not to have available drivers for a short time after it's release. Though this isn't a common problem it can occur and needs to be understood before jumping into the Open Source Community.
The best recommendation that I could offer is to join one of the many Linux User Groups around the world and pick these members brains about any potential problems before adopting a single Distro permanently. You can find a complete list of the Linux User Groups here
http://tinyurl.com/fu97y
There is a place to download different Distro's that support the Live Linux or BSD versions here so that you can look around and have a play with some of the different versions available here
http://tinyurl.com/23nmq
Now depending on what you want to do there are different makers from places like Linspire formally Lindows to Debian at each end of the scale. Linspire is very much like Windows but based on a Unix type Operating System but retaining the look & feel of Windows so that new devotees to Linux from Windows are not overwhelmed by the change.
After that you step up to the more robust OS's available which have the ability to do more but come at the expense of requiring some knowledge to install and use correctly to get the best results and then you can step all the way up to a fully customizable version of Linux when you look at Something like Linux From Scratch or Dam Small Linux and that type of Distro.
If you want a better idea of what will suit you best there are several sites that you can look at all of which offer some great information the first is Distro Watch which compares the different versions of Linux
http://tinyurl.com/429gl
Then for a more in depth view of things there is Distro Watch Weekly
http://tinyurl.com/yrolnq
A very good article Called How To Ask Questions available here
http://tinyurl.com/2wo6o
A very good description of the differences between Linux and Windows in this Article entitled Linux is not Windows
http://tinyurl.com/8b9s6
Linux Central for Books and copies of CD/DVD's and the like
http://tinyurl.com/yr2pzh
These are but a small fraction of what is available and are only posted as Examples of places that you may like to look at though I would strongly suggest that you join a Linux User Group in your Region so that you have have what amounts to Real Time Help and/or advice as you may require it.
When it comes to Open Source OS's there are 3 distinct groups the first is the Live Versions that run from a CD/DVD and while useful have limited use.
The second are the single Disc Installs like PC Linux 2007, Knoppix, Free BSD, Ubuntu and the like.
The last group are multi Disc install versions of the Open Source products and these generally have more applications and related software included with the Install CD's that you can chose what to install and disregard any software that you do not have a need for though this can be added latter if the need arises as well as different Desktop environments.
Personally if you only want a simple install that will allow you to write letters surf the net & collect E-Mail then any of the Single CD installations will suit your needs though some may suit you individually better than others so it may be worth a try of some of the Live Distro's to see which you like best of those available.
Though if you are really determined to take the jump and not look back ever then one of the Bigger Distro's may suit you better.
For beginners I like PC Linux 2007, Linspire or for a smaller install something like Puppy Linux.
For the desktop that requires more than just the basics then SUSE, Mandriva, Fedora Core and others along those lines are very good with something like Debian for the really experienced User.
I hope that isn't too confusing.
Col
