I hope that someone can help answer a few questions about FreeBSD, I have installed various versions of Linux before into a Dual Boot setup with WinXP so I am familiar with partitioning and setting swap files etc. My questions might be a little off and if so please correct me if I'm wrong. From what I understand FreeBSD is more Unix based than Linux based so my terminology might be a little askew, since I'm not sure if they both have the same services. And yes I know I can do a search on Google for a lot of these questions, but I'm trying to get specific user input not broad generalizations.

1. Is it a stable OS?
2. Will I run into any problems setting it up for Dual Boot with WinXP?
3. Does SAMBA work well within FreeBSD?
4. Anyone run into specific hardware problems (i.e. problems with certain soundcards, video)?
5. Does it have kernel support for access of NTFS/FAT partitions?
6. Does anyone recommend any specific tips/tricks for configuring FreeBSD upon first installing it?
7. Is the learning curve extremely steep?

Any help you might be able to give me would be great. I have experience with Linux (Redhat, Mandrake) but have not delved into FreeBSD. I'm hoping that these questions will give a base for comparison. If anyone has the time to send a email about some of the Pro's and Con's I might run into send it to [email protected].