I have a few questions about linux. I am brand new to linux and I was wondering why everyone says that linux is more powerful than windows? And I was also wondering what the main differances are between the differant versions of linux i.e. fedora and so on.

Just search in google Linux vs Windows... i hope you may get right information what you are expecting

Linux is known to be more secure than Windows. There is no need for antivirus or anti-spyware, etc.
http://www.linux.com/news/software/a...tivirus-needed
Linux is free (as in freedom, i.e., the source code is freely available, and anyone can modify and redistribute linux source code). Most linux distros are free as in beer as well (i.e., free as in cost).
Most linux distros are more easily configurable than Windows, so you can set them up any way you want.
There are linux distros available for older computers with low resources. And there are also linux distros that have all the bells and whistles that take advantage of newer hardware.

As for the differences between linux distros, there are different package management utilities, different goals (for example, distros that focus on bleeding edge software like Arch or Fedora, or more conservative distros that focus on rock solid stability like Debian and Slackware).
Look through the listings on http://distrowatch.com/ to find a linux that is right for you. And be sure to look over your chosen distro's documentation before you install it for the most trouble free experience.

Welcome to the LQ forums! Welcome to the cool side of computing!

Here are some differences I've observed between Windows and Linux.

As background, I first dabbled with Linux about five years ago. I have since become what my friend Jeffrey Powers at Geekazine.com describes as a "Linux enthusiast" (full disclosure: I blog at Geekazine from time to time, often about Linux). I've done tech support and training for a manufacturer of enterprise-level Windows-networking-based security software used by companies such as Bloomberg, Cablevision, and Target.

Here are some of the things I've noticed in my five years of Linuxing. This is just my opinion and any resemblance to anyone else's opinion is completely accidental:

• Linux is smaller. For example, a full Debian Lenny installation takes about five gigs of HDD space (not counting any programs you might add later).
• Linux is faster. My Ubuntu 10.10 laptop boots to the login screen in less that a minute; my netboot, in 27 seconds. Heck, I was playing with TinyCore in Virtual Box the other day and it booted in less than 10 seconds.
• Linux is more secure. Networking was part of Linux from the beginning (because of it's having been designed to publisnhed Unix standards), so security was part of Linux from the beginning. In contrast, Windows grew from DOS, which had no security model. Window's attempts to improve security over its no-security-model heritage amount to trying to put more locks on a screen door.
• Linux is easier to use. It's not easier for someone who is used to Windows, but it's easier in a side-by-side comparison. A Windows user cannot become a Linux user overnight, because Linux is different and there is a learning curve. But, once you surmount that curve, diagnosing and fixing problems is much easier. And, remember, most Windows users (and I was one) spent years learning to be proficient with Windows; many then come to Linux and wonder why they can't become proficient in hours.
• Linux does not have a (hoick! ptui!) registry.
• Linux includes tools that Windows does not, such as whois and whereis, just to pick two I use regularly.
• Linux is more configurable. You can pretty much have any kind of desktop you want, or even no desktop if that's what you want. Slackware, for example, by default comes with six different window managers and desktop environments. I have three on this Ubuntu laptop: Gnome (the Ubuntu default), KDE (which I installed for the libraries and certain KDE applications I prefer to their Gnome equivalents, and Fluxbox, which has been my favorite for years because it's light, simple, configurable, and fast.
• Linux permissions are more secure and easier to understand and administer.

Some comparisons here (and maybe more of interest on the same page) and, in case you have not already found it, Linux is NOT Windows may be interesting.

Also: Linux is free-as-in-free-beer. I've used Linux as my desktop OS for years now simply because it never costs anything and neither does any of the software. Running Debian means that I can install just about any kind of program I need with one typed command ("apt-get install -whatever-" and poof! It's there!)

And yeah, being immune to viruses is also nice.

The only reason I keep a Windows partition around is to play games. :]

Three years ago I installed Ubuntu alongside WinXP and after 6 months realized I hadn't booted XP so I blew it away. After a year of using Ubuntu I switched to Debian Stable, Lenny. It's rock solid stable and I don't have a want for any windows package. Many of the distro's you can get with a LiveCD so you can boot the OS and, without actually installing it, test drive it so to speak.

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