i want to know if its worth getting it

im not worryed about not being [albe] to play games because i was thinking of when i get my dreamcast i could use linux on that and use my vista to play games but i hardly use it to play games i would just use it to play i few sometimes

depends on what you want to do. I only ever use it for AI programming, since there are so many tools from universities for it.

It depends on your needs. What do you mainly use your computer for?

The main advantages of Linux over Windows are:

1) Easier to install any software - over 20,000 completely free programs that are good or better replacements for many Windows applications are availible with one click - no installers and no download websites.

2) Much faster than Windows.

3) Zero viruses and almost complete protection from spyware

4) Free. Completely free. Major new versions of Linux distributions are relaesed every six months or so with more new features than a new version of Windows.

5) Looks better than Windows. Search youtube for "Compiz". Wobby windows, transparency, multiple desktops.... much better than Vista, and thousands of free themes and icon sets that don't require hacks like Windows does to use.

Disadvantages:

1) Many games don't run. Some do, and a lot more run with Wine, which is like an emulator but with no slowdown.

2) Can be hard to find a program that does what you want. They do exist, though, it's just some of them have names that aren't like Windows.

Here are some Ubuntu Linux programs that replace Windows apps very well

Internet Explorer -> Firefox
Outlook -> Thunderbird / Evolution
MS Paint -> Kolourpaint
Word -> OpenOffice Writer
Excel -> OpenOffice Writer
Powerpoint -> OpenOffice Impress
Photoshop -> GIMP
Bittorrent -> Transmission
Windows Media Player -> Totem / VLC
MSN Messenger -> Pidgin

3) Some hardware doesn't work too well, especially some wireless chips or graphics cards. If you tell me what your computer is like, I can tell you whether it will work.

Oh, as to whether it is "worth" getting it, since it is free and requires only a few minutes to download and burn to a CD and then about half an hour to install and set up, I'd say it's worth anyone's time to try. You can always get rid of it if you find you don't like it. You can even try it without installing but just putting the CD in the drive.

By the way, you want Ubuntu to start off with. There are many kinds of Linux, but Ubuntu is the easiest to use and set up.

http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download

No-one can decide for you whether it's worth it or not.

It's not as prone to viruses as windows, requires much lower system resources (and thus increases battery life on laptops) is very simple to use (besides the initial set up)
There are very few programs available on windows only (and if you're a programmer then there's a few linux exclusives) and if there are any windows programs then dual booting is an option

I personally have Xubuntu, and can recommend all of the ubuntu family.

ubuntu is good, Xubuntu is simple and nice - with very low system resources. kubuntu is used in alot of universities so if you're a uni student you may have used it before.

Of course, if your computer is purely a gaming pc, then use Windows xp

Considering that you download it for free, it's definately worth getting.

Since there are quite a few hardware compatibily issues, i'd suggest that you should make your PC dual-bootable first, so in case if you run into problems, you have still your old OS to use.

It's a bit different from some parts to use than Windows and there's practically no games for it. Wine does work, but only in limited number of games (the dualboot still keeps Windows for playing).

For example Ubuntu, which i have used quite a lot, has pretty good software library which is accessible directly from your computer. Practically no viruses, and after getting used to the different method of using it, it's a lot more easier and logical to use than Windows.

It's really hard to tell about the good points and bad points, i'd suggest that you download it, make your computer dual-bootable and then decide whether you like it or not.

You don't really have to pay money for them and you get a whole OS. Other people can give you a better breakdown on differences though.

Oh, and one thing, depending on your Windows revision, you may need to find an ISO-CD/DVD burner for the bootdisc. Windows doesn't seem to have any burner by default that would support ISO:s (unlike Linuxes).

Yes. A lot of Dell/HP/etc. PCs come with "Nero", which does burn ISOs to CDs, but if you don't have it then the free program Infrarecorder (http://infrarecorder.sourceforge.net/?page_id=5) does it too.

The HUGE advantage is that generally, once you've got it set up, it works.  Things don't mysteriously change and stop working every couple of weeks.  You can leave it switched on without rebooting frequently (this is only really useful for servers I guess).  You don't really have to worry about the weekly updates although they are available.

At work I've got my old desktop machine running Ubuntu, along with all sorts of stuff I need for work, like file / web servers, databases.  That was powered down for one hour two months ago due to the annual electrical testing, but otherwise has been running non-stop since last October!  Can't say the same for my main Windows desktop.

I agree with Soleron on most of his points.  Ubuntu is easiest to set up and use.  You can't really use it on a games machine (but since you've got a console hopefully not an issue).  Some hardware is tricky as the Linux drivers aren't as widely available.

I'd say don't try and put it on a new machine.  If you've got an older machine, you can throw Linux on it and it's much more likely to just auto-install everything correctly.  And the bonus is Linux runs much quicker than Windows, so it'll seem like a new machine anyway :)

Wireless networking is a bit of a mess (but I think the same on Windows - I've gone to Powerline networking instead now).