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Originally Posted by JDtech
Okay, so do you recommend simply downloading the latest distro and trying it out? How about compatibility with the majority of Windows users out there? Open Office? And how about PhotoShop? That obviously doesn't run under Linux.
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I've become a big fan of Ubuntu in the last 2-3 years. I had it running as a test bed on about 200 PC's and laptops in a private school system. It was absolutely fantastic. Having said that, I wouldn't run out and change everything without having a test environment to be sure the release you choose is the best option for you. But, with each release of Ubuntu they seem to bring what consumers want to the market in a big way.
There are several Windows based programs that will run fine on Linux with WINE. We also run virtual Windows boxes on Linux with good results when the need is there. I'm a slave to Photoshop for my photography work and have it running under WINE in Linux too. But, if you don't mind the learning curve, GIMP is an extremely strong tool as well.
Open Office works great too. For the most part it's compatible with all versions of Microsoft Office. A feat Microsoft can't claim about their own software suites.
There are Linux based programs for most of the other Windows based programs people could need too. And most are FREE as well.
Ubuntu is also nice in the fact that you can run it from a live CD (demo and installation disc) to see if you like it. It doesn't run as fast as if it was installed on a PC but it still gives you a good idea of how nice it is. We use the live CD's to repair Windows PC's that come into the shop before anything else now. Data recovery in Linux is a snap too. It really makes life much easier for us.
Jon.