For those who want to just test the water, there are Linux Live CD's that run your PC or Mac from the CD-ROM (no hard drive needed). Its a Linux distro that boots, loads, and runs without touching the hard disk. And whats nice is that they are free to down load or cheap to buy on CD. One is called Linspire Five-0-live. I keep a Linspire-live-Linux CD around as an emergency recovery disk, since I know it will boot a PC even if the hard disk is completely wiped out. Then there is Knoppix-Linux CD from www.knoppix.net . It plays DVD movies out the box. ( note: be sure to put live CDs in the ROM drive you dont watch DVDs on)It too will boot a PC even if the hard disk is completely wiped out. Last but not least, ubuntu-live from www.ubuntulinux.org is a good choice as well and what makes ubuntu stand out is the fact they have a live CD that will run on Macs.