Web Servers

The common fear of most seasoned Windows 95, 98, 2000, XP or even Vista users when told about switching or even just having Linux on a second computer is:
1 - Will I be able to install Linux without knowing intricate technical details about my PC?
2 - Linux is identified with Unix, how steep is the learning curve?
3 - I need to be up and running quickly with familiar applications such as Word and Outlook
4 - Will I be able to find as much free software as there is for Windows?
5 - Will my iPod, PDA, toaster work with Linux?
6 - All my friends, and my tech support is already on Windows!

To be honest, some of the above issues are valid, and others used to be, but they are not anymore. Here are some detailed answers to those questions. I am a seasoned Windows user, and so my experience will most probably be representative of that user-group.

1) As detailed in a related document (see link at the end of this page), yes, you will be able to install Ubuntu much much easily than you do with Windows. In my experience, I did not run into any software or hardware errors, and I did not even have to know what kind of PC I was running it on. I was able to install and use it on an Intel and AMD processor each with a modest 512MB or RAM. Windows would choke is it was run with that amount of Random Access Memory (RAM)

2) The learning curve is not steep, it took me less than a day about a day of use to figure out how to install applications and change settings, the usability is great. Actually, I must note that apart from some differences in menu locations and click-paths, most GUI based operating systems are now quite similar. May be I am just guilty that the Ubuntu Linux user-interface is so similar to that of Windows XP.

3) All software foe Ubuntu is free. Once you install Ubuntu, you can open the Synaptic package manager and install the pre-loaded applications as well as others that you may download with the same ease that you get on a recent Apple computer. You just have to look through the list and select what you want and click "Apply", it will install and one big difference with Windows is that Ubuntu Linux does not require you to restart it after installing software, not even System updates. You can even Windows applications using WINE (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Wine). I was able to install and run Internet Explorer.

4) Granted that many pieces of hardware are made to run with Microsoft Windows, less on Apple, and even much less on Linux. But the list of supported hardware is increasing all the time. You can find out which hardware is supported on the www.ubuntu.com website, or from your hardware vendor.

5) I think the fact that there are many people running Windows is not a valid reason to stick with it. The only reason you may consider this to be valid is is you have a group license, or you want to use their software (which is piracy and will cost you morally and legally). With Ubuntu, you do not have to worry about paying for software.