Open Source and Free Software

I've used pretty much everything, *DOS, OS/2, BeOS, Windows, Mac, Linux, ReactOS, Haiku etc. but for the last 5 years I've only run Linux as my only installed OS.

Currently still running Linux Mint 13 Mate desktop edition. May have to give Valve's SteamOS distro a try one of these days, maybe when I get around to building a box around the AMD A10-7850K.

As for installing Linux, it's dead simple, almost all desktop oriented distros have a graphical install setup like you'd see in Windows or Mac OS X. You just put in the base account info it asks for, tell it what volume you want it installed on and let it install and grab updates while the installer is running. In about an hour(depending on how fast your internet connection is) you've got it fully installed.

I recommend Ubuntu, Mandriva or Mint* as a beginner's OS. If you have a Steam account and any games you own are available on Linux you'll be able to play them without having to repurchase them. The same is probably true for Desura and Gameolith accounts.

* Mint is based on Ubuntu and is a better choice for slightly more advanced users who want a different desktop UI installed then Ubuntu's Unity, as I myself use the Mate desktop which looks very much like the traditional Windows 95-7 era desktop. The problem with Mint though is that the changes they have made do not allow you to directly upgrade the distro every 6 months, you have to backup and install from scratch or move your /home directory (where your user accounts data is stored) to another volume and replace the install. Ubuntu on the other hand has the ability to directly upgrade every 6 months, provided you have remembered to remove any PPAs and their software before hand as these can cause all kinds of problems with upgrades, especially if you are doing some very advanced stuff with the experimental open source GPU drivers and still in development kernel.