get started

use this link if you are just switchin to linux from windows ...!
http://www.pcmech.com/show/os/917/

am no linux expert yet ......
have been using continuously since around 1 yr and totally i have used it for 2 years .Thanks to one of my lecturers Mohanan who helped us get a feel of it early in my undergrad days :) so that my passion grown long !
but i am surely a big fan bez i like all things on earth which are smart and intelligent ! At the same time i wont be making any biassed comparison and its open to debates ..

why linux ?

i find the 3 important reasons linux is better than windows is

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Windows_and_Linux

1. security , till date 'File viruses have been written for Linux, none has yet propagated successfully ' ! tats the greatness ...... where as every day windows is attacked by viruses .

2. robustness . linux can run for years without even a reboot - the memory management is the best . Where as windows versions till ME were not considered stable and user was haunted with the notorious blue screen ! later versions are considered stable but requires reboot normally for any updates or installations . ( windows do has a techique of hot installation )

3. flexibility - since its open source and can recompile kernel itself or build a custom kernel itself .