free operating system

I'm a Windows guy, so any Linux users here will probably disagree with this.

In my opinion, stick to Windows 9x or ME if you want gaming and software compatability. You will have a tougher time finding games and software you are accustomed to on Windows in Linux, unfortunately, since only a very small population uses Linux.

My opinion is that you should stay on Windows unless you have a specific need or are just *very* curious and willing to take risks. Even that, I would recommend partitioning your hard drive, one Windows partition, one Linux.

I prefer good old DOS, don't use the window DOS which ver7.0.

When you install your OS, install DOS 6.2 first then install windows, this way you have the real DOS and there's a lot of software/games that is compatible using DOS.

I have Windows and Linux. I use linux for development and Windows, mostly for my daily regular use. I like Linux, it's actually becoming more and more popular as pc os, which in turn means more and more software is becoming available for it.

Ravi

k, so it sounds like there may be some compatibility issues with some of my games, which is a big no no. i'll stick windows, like i've got a real choice (monopoly?), hehe.

Even if you don't intend on using Linix for your every-day use at the moment, it might still be a good idea to install Linux just to see what it is like.

It has a much greater learning curve than Windows, but once you have used it for a while, and customized it the way you like it (this is a major plus of Linux), you will see how powerful it can be.

So grab one of the distributions which is focusing more on usability and user-friendliness. Try RedHat, Suse, Mandrake or Corel. These are some of the easier to install/use.