This is my first post, so first of all, HI everybody

This is a complete 's post so be patient please ...

I have been for many years on Windows, and I think it's now time to change.

I thought about Linux, and more specifically about Mandrake and I have many questions about it. I tried to find a FAQ or something like it to avoid flooding this kind of boards with my stupidities ...

My questions :

1) Is it really free ? freely legally downloadable ?

2) What (software) can you run on it (in other words, is it limited in software compared to Windows and if yes, how) ?

3) Can I keep Windows ?

4) I have an ADSL USB modem, will it work ?

5) I have made a small local network with my 2 home computers to be able to share the Internet connection. Will it still be possible even if one computer uses Windows XP and the other (actually the main one) uses Mandrake ? What about the file sharing in this same network : still possible ?

6) As I want to keep Windows, and assuming it is possible, I want to re-organize my hard drive partitions. I currently have 2 HD of 80 GB each in file system NTFS. How much space do I need to install comfortably Mandrake and which file system should I use (the Partition Magic Wizard says something about EXT2 or EXT3)

7) Before I install Mandrake, do I have to make some changes in the configuration or in the BIOS and do I need to know stuff about IRQs ... ?

8) Will I be able to read/encode videos (more specifically divX)

9) Will I be able to access my files on other partitions (NTFS) on which Windows is installed.

10) What's the exact relation between Unix and Linux, is it the same, does it have the same basis like other OSs like FreeBsd or NetBSD .. ?

11) This last question is even more stupid than the ten first, what do you think about my choices :
- of leaving Windows
- of choosing Mandrake as a new OS
and is there something you might want to tell me about Mandrake or anything of Linux world that I might be interested to know and that is not necessarily on every site about it ... ?

Thank you for at least reading me ...

Thank you for any answers you might post, anything is helpful ...

That's it I think .... have a good day ... a please don't be too mean to me, don't forget I am a

1) Yes, most distrobutions of Linux are free.
2) Linux can't run all Windows software. There are many Linux programs that can do what their Windows counterparts can, and there is alot of software only made for Windows. You can use the Wine emulator to run Windws software, but it isn't gaurenteed to run all software properly.
3) Yes, you can set up a dual-boot system, in which you will be presented with a menu at boot asking which os you want to use.
4) Not sure, some work, and some don't.
5) Fileshareing is possible, thought I'm not sure about the connection sharing (I think its been done before).
6) At least 10GB would be good. EXT2 and EXT3 are Linux filesystems. EXT3 is the same as EXT2, except it includes journaling like NTFS (no need to check disks after improper shutdown)
7) You may need to set in your bios the option 'PnP OS/Non PnP OS'
8) I think so, but i'm not sure
9) Only read-only support for ntfs is safe in Linux. If you try to write, there is a good chance of the NTFS filesystem being messed up.
10) It's a clone of UNIX, they are very similar.

Not only is it free, it's free. (it's not free as in beer, it's free as in freedom - this is incredibly important)

2) What (software) can you run on it (in other words, is it limited in software compared to Windows and if yes, how) ?[/QUOTE]

There are a lot more windows users, therefore there are more windows programs... But any program you might want should be available in one form or another. If not, you could always try WINE.

3) Can I keep Windows ?[/QUOTE]

Of course - Linux plays nice with Windows, but windows doesn't always play nice with Linux.

4) I have an ADSL USB modem, will it work ?[/QUOTE]

sure, but you might want to search for it here: http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/fhard.php3

5) I have made a small local network with my 2 home computers to be able to share the Internet connection. Will it still be possible even if one computer uses Windows XP and the other (actually the main one) uses Mandrake ? What about the file sharing in this same network : still possible ?[/QUOTE]

File sharing is not a problem, look for SAMBA, and yes, you can share an internet connection.

6) As I want to keep Windows, and assuming it is possible, I want to re-organize my hard drive partitions. I currently have 2 HD of 80 GB each in file system NTFS. How much space do I need to install comfortably Mandrake and which file system should I use (the Partition Magic Wizard says something about EXT2 or EXT3)[/QUOTE]

IMO, EXT3. And give it as much as you want. I installed Mandrake 8 on a 2gb HD once - small, but it worked. You probably want more space.

7) Before I install Mandrake, do I have to make some changes in the configuration or in the BIOS and do I need to know stuff about IRQs ... ?[/QUOTE]

NO. If you are installing from the CD, you just need to set the bios to boot from the CD before the HD. That's it.

8) Will I be able to read/encode videos (more specifically divX)[/QUOTE]

I'm pretty sure there is a DIVX port in Linux - but search google, it's not something I do.

9) Will I be able to access my files on other partitions (NTFS) on which Windows is installed.[/QUOTE]

Linux can't really write too well on NTFS, but it reads fine. It can read and write on FAT

10) What's the exact relation between Unix and Linux, is it the same, does it have the same basis like other OSs like FreeBsd or NetBSD .. ?[/QUOTE]

Short answer is yes, they are all basically the same thing as you learn about linux, you will find there are some big differences, but don't worry about it now.

11) This last question is even more stupid than the ten first, what do you think about my choices :
- of leaving Windows
- of choosing Mandrake as a new OS
and is there something you might want to tell me about Mandrake or anything of Linux world that I might be interested to know and that is not necessarily on every site about it ... ?[/QUOTE]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Linux!

9) Just a note, set a desent size of a fat32 partition if you want to share files between the 2 OSes on the same computer, seeing as Linux and NT/XP can both read and write to fat32 safely.

Even with a Windows machine ?

Otherwise, thanks for your answers. I'm installing Mandrake as soon as I get back from school tonight

for your second question that's my answer, look at http://linuxshop.ru/linuxbegin/win-lin-soft/ I hope it will be helpful for you and others

I wish you a lot of fun in the GNU/Linux world

Welcome to Linux! I run it for a week and everything works fine. No Windows any more!