The Linux distros Tyger mentioned are a good way to get your feet wet. There is enough hand-holding available there to help you get started. Starting off with a dual boot is a good way to make sure you can still get things done while you are first learning your way around. One sage piece of advice: Be sure to use a non-priviledged account for anything that isn't careful system administraton. This should save you lots of aggrievation, as you can experiment without breaking anything important. That being said, after you realize the full power of the shell, you just might ditch you winblows partition and never look back.......