Teach a Guy to Use Linux...
 

Ok, so here's the deal. I'm a big Windows person, and I really don't like Linux. But, I'm all about new stuff, so I'm interested in installing Linux as a dual boot with Win XP on my desktop at home. I'm going to use this forum to help me with issues as I go along. I have a Bachelor's degree in Management Information Systems, so if Linux is as easy as you guys say, it shouldn't be too much trouble. Just please bare with me. I'm not a computer idiot, and I have taken Unix admin classes, but I have never been able to get Linux to cooperate.

First off, which Distrobution should I try?

Personally, I think Ubuntu is the easiest distribution for someone coming from a Windows background. It's fairly intuitive and well-documented with a large community. It also has a very stable development model.

Moved: This thread is more suitable in Linux Distributions and has been moved accordingly to help your thread/question get the exposure it deserves.

That's going to make it much harder to learn....;)
Who said it was easy? A basic installation can be EASIER than Windows--and a lot faster. After installation, the fun starts...

check my "getting started" link below.

Well, I'm not sure that you will be able to do it with that attitude. I was a windows lover and appologist from 1990 until 1998. I then began experimenting with Linux in a dual boot situation and have tried almost every flavor of linux known to man including building my own gentoo install. I currently use a version of Ubuntu called Mint because it includes proprietary codecs I need. I know this is evil in the eyes of Linux purists but I am an end user not a purist. I now spend about 99% of my time on my linux box instead of my windows vista partition. I have 3 wireless networked computers in my house and my 9 year old daughter and 70 year old mother in law use Linux exclusively and have no idea of any difference between that and my windows machine. I don't have a degree in anything techincal at all, I am not even a real closet geek because I don't know how to code. So if I can do it you certainly should be able to with no problems what-so-ever. The question isn't can you, but do you really want to. If you expect to fail before you even start, chances are you wil....

Ok, let's put this to the test. From cd-boot to install for Windows XP is about 40 minutes. I'll download the latest version of Ubuntu and see how long it takes for Ubuntu to install.

SO first off here is the Linux is not Windows article.
As Matir suggested, Ubuntu may be a good choice. The Cd is both an install CD and a live-CD. You can test drive it before installing to your hard drive.
You can also try a "Linux chooser" one, two, three.
Or something from the distrowatch top ten as pixellany's article suggests.

Blah, blah, blah. Another Linux Wannabee with an attitude. If you don't like Linux and don't want to use it. Then don't bloody use it.

I started with Apple-II and then the very first Mac-128s
Later, Apple pushed me to the dark side with their disastrous PowerPC series---
I remember thinking how Windows 95 was a huge improvement over my Mac PowerPC 7600. At the same time, I had to use a system that had been set up on Windows 3.1.
--How different things might have been if I had discovered Linux before ever trying Windows....

Be sure you're not confusing ease of use with ease of installation.