Years ago, when Linux was new, installing and using the alternative OS was best left to propeller-head nerds with oodles of free time. Indeed, just getting Linux up and running on a machine required several hours, just the right mix of supported hardware, and then several more hours. If you were dealing with cutting-edge hardware, it would take a couple days of tinkering to achieve a working install with a graphical interface and a reliable Internet connection.

These days, installing Linux is a piece of cake.

In addition to the traditional distros that install Linux to your hard drive, there are also several specialized distros that run directly from your optical drive, without making any permanent changes to the Windows install already on your PC. Such LiveCD distros make it really easy to give Linux a test spin and experiment without any real danger to you or your computer.

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