Linux is a free open source version of UNIX.  It will not run anything designed for Windows.  If you don't want to spend a lot of time learning how to use it you might as well not even bother.  If you like tinkering with stuff go ahead and try it.

Brouhaha,

If you are going to try linux, SNorman is correct, it is an open source version of Unix.  Unix at the heart is a command-line OS, however, there are window programs (Xwindows) and window managers (KDE, Gnome) that can make it more user friendly.

For the novice, I heartily suggest getting a copy of Mandrake.  There are plenty of how-to's on the web, since a lot of hardware may need special configuration.  

There is a Windows emulator (WINE) which is another opensource product, which has updates all the time for it.   Certain games (first shooters are the ones I am familar with such as Quake) are available for Linux, along with some others, but may need tweaking to be able to work.

Again, the web is one of the best resources for learning Linux, along with any of the O'Reilly linux books.   It is also a great way to learn alot about computers, operating systems and networking.

Have fun,

It's a command line operating system that requires a good working understanding of UNIX to properly install and run it.  Unlike Windows you don't just put a CD in the drive and click "OK".

It won't be compatible with your existing software (assuming you're running Windows) and you're not going to find many commercial software applications that support it compared to what's commercially available for Windows.

Again, this is from a client or end user perspective.  If you're wanting to set-up a mail server, web server, a Half-Life game server or something similar, you can't beat Linux.  But for your average home user client machine or workstation it's probably not something you'll want to use.

Hey!  There is always lynxx  [:D]

I use Linux almost exclusively these days.  No it isn't as easy to use/learn as Windows but it is worlds ahead of where it was several years ago.  If you are just going to use it on the surface, I don't think it is any more difficult than Windows to use provided you are using XWindows and some kind of windows manager such as KDE or Gnome.  

I think you will find a wealth of free programs as well as commercial programs that will enable you to do anything you would do in Windows.  Some of those programs are a bit rougher around the edges but fully servicable.  I think you can actually find many different tools and utilities that are unavailable to windows users.  Netscape is certainly not the equal of IE and I wouldn't use it.  Instead, use Mozilla which is what Netscape's current browser is based upon.  Netscape however is behind the curve on updating their browser to the latest updates provided with Mozilla.  Otherwise the only difference is the M instead of an N in the upper right corner.

I also have no problems playing the games I chose with native ports of the game rather than using Wine which is an imulator.  I play UT, Quake2, Quake3, and Tribes2 with no problems and maybe even a bit faster under linux than windows.

Yes there is the command line which is a great tool once you have learned your way around the desktop but it isn't necessary to have a working system.  The command line in linux is very powerful compared to windows (DOS).  As I sit here at work, I am currently logged into 5 different servers as are others in my office.  Each of us is able to make changes on those servers or use tools located on those boxes without interfering with each other.  I can easily connect to my home box from work, make changes or have it download files to be waiting for me when I get home.  These are things that are difficult if not impossible to do on a Windows machine and things that have lead me(along with issues about M$ business practices) to dump Windows and use Linux for everything I do.

Someone mentioned a good distribution to start with is Mandrake [url]www.linux-mandrake.com[/url].  I agree and also recommend the newsgroup alt.os.linux.mandrake for any help you may need.

Linux is an Open Source operating system kernel that was designed by Linus Torvalds to be a UNIX clone.  Linus wanted to be able to work on UNIX, but UNIX and UNIX hardware were expensive at the time.  So, using the MINIX x86 operating system as a baseline, he started writing the Linux kernel and porting applications to it, like command shells and system utilities.

Since then, Linux has come a long way.  Unlike what other people have said, you can indeed put a CD-ROM into your drive and have it boot and install Linux.  The Mandrake distribution does it this way with a easy to follow GUI installation program.  I think the Redhat distribution has this now too.

If you're not familiar with UNIX, the learning curve will be steep.  However, most Linux distributions are newbie and user friendly, so it's not hard for a new person to get into it.  This was not the case back in 1994 when I spent several hours feeding my 486 a stack of floppies to install Slackware Linux.

There's a Linux user group at HAL-PC over by the Galleria that meets twice a month.  You should look at going to one of the meetings.  I've been thinking about showing up myself, though I run OpenBSD instead of Linux.

As mentioned, there's a Windows emulator called WINE that will allow you to run some windows software on your Linux box.  There's also VirtualPC, which can actually run a Windows instance inside of a window in your Linux box.  Loki has ported a lot of Windows games to Linux, and iD has released all of their quake games for Linux as well.  Linux will work on just about any x86 hardware, except the bus from the old IBM days.  Anything 486 and up should handle it with no problems.

God Bless Texas

Linux is Unix, which means it's crap.  Unix was originally invented so some guys at Bell Labs (At&T, who's definantely anti everything fun).  Besides, Linux is licensed under the GPL, which is so Communist it makes Lenin look blue by comparison.  Of course, he's dead, and probably pretty cold which doesn't help his complexion.  
There's no real security in Unix type systems anyway.  Just go look at the number of bugs listed for "unix" on bugtraq and compare it to a nice secure OS like Windows 2000.  Besides, Linux makes you use (gasp) a command line.  Us civilinized types got rid of those back when we switched to Windows.  They've been playing with something called 'X' for years, but I've been informed by my cop friend that it's a drug, and illegal, so you shouldn't mess with it.  
There's no Plug and Pray support, so you'd actually have to know something about the computer you're working on.  Who gives a rat's butt about that?  I mean come on....it's not like I want to dig around the manuals to find out what they heck this crap is, it's just supposed to work when I turn the thing on.  
You have to "log in".  What a load of crap.  what happens if I forget my password?  Oh, I have to do what? Single user mode?  Isn't that how I use it already?  
In short, I think it best is summed up by this quote from the "Unix Hater's Handbook":

"I have a natural revulsion to any operating system that shows so little planning as to have named all of its commands after
digestive noises (awk, grep, fsck, nroff)."

I am just going to guess you are joking with those comments rather than respond to such obvious misstatements.

Mozilla/4.78 [en] (X11; U; SunOS 5.8 sun4u; Nav)

My default browser info.  does that make you happy now?  I'm sure the search function can probably find more fun things as to my favorite computer things.

Edited to add check out topic #50365, since you should recognize at least one of the posts in that thread.

Get Red Hat Linux.  There are many flavors of LINUX/UNIX os's out there.  Just as many opinions on which to use.  If you come from the Windows world, Red Hat really is the appropriate choice for you.  Once you master the basics, you can try a more comand line dependent distribution.  But as a first time user, Red Hat has the momentum right now for ease of use.

Will Red Hat or Mandrake run on a 75mhz pentium/64mgs of ram

Any Linux system will.  Since Linux sucks up less resources than Windows, you should notice a performance "improvement" compared to Windows -- really, the operating system is just dragging down the processor less.

Mandrake is derived directly from Red Hat.  There are two graphical operating environments in the Linux world, KDE and Gnome.  Red Hat uses Gnome.  For those who dislike it, Mandrake simply substitutes KDE as the default installed environment.  Mandrake usually releases its CDs a few weeks after Red Hat for exactly this reason.

FWIW, a P75 is still pretty sluggish for today -- you can get a nice AMD Athlon 1800+ system for about $600 if you piece it together yourself.  The memory bus will run 4X faster and the processor will run about 25X faster;  I'd guess you'd see an approx 15X to 20X overall speedup. . . .

The real issue is, what do you want to do with it?

If you want to use prepackaged software, especially games, Windows has an undeniable advantage.  You can't get most of that stuff on Linux.

If you want basic services, such as web browsing, email, and development tools, Linux is great.  Especially if you're using older hardware.

Well, for games there is always http://www.lokigames.com . Not everything, but Quake runs as well as a few others.

I believe mandrake is coming out with a gaming version that includes the sims.

There is always WINE.
But no, most off the shelf purchased stuff won't work, but oh the free stuff that you can download... And computer crashes? What are those again?

Tell me about a sink hole of wasted time

--
It's for killing, stupid