im making a partial transition....help...
 

ok, i have a windows computer and i wanted linux so i chose mandrake mainly because it is the most popular here so w/e. Dont worry im really good with computers (im only 14) i tryed some test and "the best distro 4 me was mandrake" so yea im getting that hands down. but is it really worth installing and stuff? yea the graphics are cool and such on mandrake but im wondering what does it really have to offer that windows doesnt? like what are the ups and downs of it.
EDIT: for example what r the capibilities of the server, and what could i use it for (Private game servers?) and what good programs r on linux that arent on any other OS?
EDIT2: and will i proboly need to back up my pc before i install mandrake?

srry if i strung that out a bit

If you're just thinking what's better in Linux than some other OS, and you don't really know if you would like to install it, aren't really interested etc. then it might be better not to start screwing your existing installation of Windows -- after all, computers are meant to ease your life and do stuff for you, and if your Windows (which you have even paid for) can do what you need, there is no sane reason to go on installing Linux. Unless, of course, you feel attracted to it.

There isn't much software on Linux that doesn't have similar software on other operating systems, and vice versa. You can do pretty much everything independent of the operating system, but if you're really attracted to Windows Messenger and Adobe Photoshop, you'll find they don't work that nice on Linux. There are alternatives of course (GAIM/aMSN/Kopete, GIMP/Krita) but they're not 100% the same. Some people say Linux is more secure, but I wouldn't take it like that -- it's the administrator and the users together that make up the security, not just the cold operating system.

With Linux you can learn a lot of things from computers and software that you might not bump into without it. It may or may not lead you to think things from another point of view. And it doesn't really matter which distribution you pick up; if Mandrake feels good for you, it is good for you. And if it one day isn't anymore, you can freely switch it. Because (most of the) Linux distributions are more or less free of charge, you won't probably lose much trying it out (you can't try Windows out for free, for example), so if you feel a bit interested in it, go ahead. But remember, nobody is saying you should do that, so if you face problems you must ask about them yourself and people will most probably help you..but if you just get bored to it and it doesn't work the way you want (or some people put it "the way Windows works"), don't start crying and don't start yelling at people that Linux sucks. Simply put it off and live with the operating system that suits you best -- if you need it.

Linux offers you an alternative, another point of view, and approximately just everything any other OS offers you. You may like it, or then you don't, simple as that. Try it out and see for yourself.

You must have taken an old test--There is no more Mandrake--it is now Mandriva.

Definitely backup any important data before changing anything on your machine--installing Linux or otherwise.

If you want to try without installing, get one of the distros that comes with a live CD. One good resource is www.distrowatch.com

srry i ment mandriva, i was just used to calling it......i forgot lol. anyway i installed mandrivia one 2007 GNOME. i like it exept can some1 tell me how to install firefox 2.0? im stuck with 1.5 =(

I don't remember whether that's available from the repositories. If you haven't got your repositories set up, you should look on the internet for easy urpmi:
http://easyurpmi.zarb.org/
If you follow the instructions, it will produce a list of repositories; as soon as you've pasted the lines into a terminal (+enter), you can get extra mandrivapackages from the internet.
You can also use smart-urpmi, which is even easier I'm told:
http://www.mandrivauser.de/smarturpmi/

With you repositories installed, you can look for add/remove packages (it's somewhere on the menu - but where? I forget).

If the repositories haven't got any updates, you can still go to the mozilla/firefox site and download firefox 2 as a tar.gz file; then you unzip it to /usr/local and you can start it by typing this into a terminal: /usr/local/firefox
It can also be added to the menu.

nvm i got it after 5 hours lol, how do u add your distro to your profile or w/e?

Just look into the menu at the right side of the screen, or at the top, and go to MyLQ, to your UserCP (User Control Panel) and you can edit your profile from there.

ok thanks, i loked there before and didnt c it