Ardchoille, I do believe a certain Feisty Fawn will be the end of me , but I hope to live long enough to dump off Windoze for good.

If anyone is wanting to give Linux a test-drive, you can download a Live CD and then boot your box off the CD. It's a bit slow, but it will let you get a feel for how things work. if you like it, there is an icon you can click to install the OS from the Live CD. If you don't like it, you're out a CD-ROM and a bit of your time. Give the CD to someone else and let them give it a test-drive.

I liked it enough after a few hours that I wanted to set up a dual-boot, where I could choose between Windoze XP and Kubuntu. I was pretty nervous about it, so I took a chicken's way out <cluck, cluck, cluck> and used the Wubi installer, which is Windoze-based. You run Wubi from Windoze and tell it what flavor Linux you want to set up (I went ahead with Kubuntu 7.04.) Wubi downloads your selection and installs it. When you boot your computer, you choose which OS you want to use.

I hope you won't let the stories about Linux scare you away. Obviously I cannot speak for other versions, but Kubuntu has been pretty easy to configure. I think most people grimace when they hear the term Command Line Interface, but I've not had to use it very much. Trust me, this thing has enough GUI to keep you from pulling out your hair. I did just download and install a program, by typing in a single-line command in a terminal window. None of this surfing to a Web site, downloading an .exe, then running it to set up the desired program. I typed in one line and Kubuntu did the rest.

I've never been a fan of IE or Outlook. I've used IE for testing purposes, but have never used Outlook for anything. So I don't miss either one. My first software grabs for Kubuntu were Firefox and Thunderbird, so all that feels just like home. As for anything else, this is no different than my first introduction to Windoze, back in the 3.1 days. I learned that OS and I am going to learn Linux.

I was one of those people that thought only geeks ran Linux boxes. Uh-huh, have any of you noticed that Dell is now offering boxes with Ubuntu installed? If one OEM is offering Linux, how long can it be until others are doing the same? I purchased an XPS410 last December, and if I had that to do again now, it would be an XPS410N, the Ubuntu box, rather than XP.

I'm a bit grumpy that Creative Labs doesn't have a Linux driver for my sound card yet, but that has been the only shortcoming I've discovered. I'm not getting the near-constant reminders that my firewall and anti-virus software have been updated and I haven't run Adaware SE or SpyBot Search & Destroy all day. I used to run both, twice a day. What's Micro$oft getting for a full edition copy of Office, these days? $450-$500? This free Kubuntu download has an office suite clone already installed. Breaks my heart. Not!

If you have a bit of time to wait and don't want to download Kubuntu, you can request the CD-ROM be mailed to you. And there's no charge for that one, either. They even pop for the postage. LOL, try telling Bill Gate$ that you want a copy of XP and Office sent to you for nothing.

If you're thinking about giving Linux a try, I can strongly recommend it. I look forward to the day when I can finally say, "I don't do Windoze!"