Ways to Try Linux

This LinuxPlanet article mentions 3 easy ways to test-drive Linux. They are:

- Wubi, the version of Ubuntu that runs like an application inside of Windows
- live CDs
- installing Linux on a spare computer

All good routes to take. I'll offer another one. Do a Google search, and you'll find that there are lots of vendors out there who sell computers with Linux systems preinstalled. Usually, these computers are a lot cheaper than Windows or Mac computers.

One of the problems folks have with trying Linux is that issues crop up with hardware that was meant for Windows. A computer that comes with Linux preinstalled won't have those issues; it'll be a computer made for Linux.

The two times that I've purchased computers with Linux preinstalled, I was able to start them up, get online, and get to work almost right away. They helped me get a feel for the operating system without having to immediately learn a lot about Linux. I used them as spare computers while I was learning about Linux.

The downside of this approach: I felt that I would have learned more about Linux faster if I'd had to install it and struggle through things instead of already having a Linux system that could already do the main things I needed it to do.

After about a year of using my first Linux computer alongside my Windows XP computer, the thing that struck me most was how little maintenance was required for the Linux machine in comparison to my Windows computer. In Windows, I was still constantly updating my anti-virus and anti-spyware stuff in Windows, doing time-consuming downloads for Windows security security updates, and monitoring my firewall. In Linux, I was starting up the computer and just going right to work.

I started to feel that Linux was simply superior, and so I went ahead with my first attempts at dual-booting Windows and Linux on the same machine. I used that approach for awhile, but eventually decided to keep Windows XP on a spare computer and use Linux on my main machines.

Another very nice thing about preinstalled Linux computers: Once you've learned a bit more about Linux, you might want to try out a different Linux distro than the one that came on your machine. More than likely, a computer that came with Linux preinstalled will accept other distros much more easily than a Windows computer would, with very few (if any) hardware issues. I'm still using both of the Linux computers that I purchased, but not with the distros that came with them. Most other distros that I've tried have worked fine on them.