linux V windows

is linux better than windows?

at the moment, vista, just simply came out from the ashes of its awful release, couple of updates, plus, updates of drivers and it is just simply sublime

Yes and no.

Linux is better for some things, Windows is better for others.

i want to try something different for a while

what have you got at the moment?

vista

Try Linux if you want.

Be prepared to tackle some complex problems that require command line usage that will require some significant experience and understanding of the underlying system and hardware.

Sometimes, with Linux, things "just work" as long as you don't try to tinker too much and you don't have any unusual requirements. Sometimes, though, things don't "just work" and it can be very maddening for even highly experienced people to solve problems.

no offence but will that be people like you?

Yes.

vista is good enough, but, if you want a spare pc, i.e. old pc back into use, and you want to like, errrr, go into very geeky stuff if things are not working properly

so aslong as i dont do anything stupid i should be ok

Should be, but like johnythan said, if things don't work, it can be bit maddening if it doesn't solve first time around

And file sharing between vista and linux is a very hard thing to do

okies thanks jonnythan

Hey, if you need any help in selecting a distro or anything, I can help. I use Ubuntu 8.04 as my primary OS, and am quite familiar with Mandriva. I also know my way around (barely) in OpenSUSE.

About Debian.....if you want to use straight Debian, you might want to wait for Lenny, because the way it is now, Etch (4.0) has such outdated repos that it isn't even funny!

Debian is perpetually in the past. But it's also perpetually reliable and stable.

There's a reason Debian spawns so many knock-offs like Ubuntu. It's a nice solid customizable system that's always stuck in the past.