So now you want to join the GNU/Linux revolution. Well, that's great. Here's what you need to know before you start:

1. Why are you installing GNU/Linux?

This is one of the most important questions which you have to answer. Based on this, your choice of hardware, Linux Distribution, and many other things get resolved. Some of the most common reasons for installing GNU/Linux are:

GNU/Linux can do all this and much, much more. Let's take the points in order, and see what the hardware requirements are, and what would be the best distribution for you.

A. To see what this GNU/Linux thing is all about: This is one of the most common reasons users install GNU/Linux. You have probably been hearing a lot about GNU/Linux and are curious to see what everyone is talking about.

The easiest way is to use a Linux Live CD to check it out. These CD's allow you to boot into a fully functional Linux Desktop directly from the CD without making any changes to your current setup. Some of the best Live CD's are Knoppix, Gnoppix, Mepis and Slax. Download the ISO, burn it and boot off the CD. It doesn't get simpler than this.

After checking out the Live CD, you may want to install it to your hard drive. You need to ensure that you have at least 5 GB of free space. The easiest way is to delete a partition and leave some unpartitioned space on your hard drive, though you can also use a tool like Partition Magic or FIPS to do the disk partitioning. You should have at least 128 MB of RAM, to run a graphical interface smoothly. If you have any esoteric hardware, you might want to do a Google search to see if it's supported under your distro of choice. And this brings us to the next question… Which distro? Well, we would recommend a distro like Mandrake 10.1, or the Xandros Open Circulation Edition, or Mepis. These are all completely free, easy to use and give a newcomer to GNU/Linux a reassuring desktop.

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