Linux Or windows ?

u only want linux b/c of the penguin?

don't even START messing with tux amen.... and btw... i'm a linux guy (slackware) and love it, just forced to work on a win2k box b/c of Photoshop (although GIMP is pretty nice) and blender sucks and lightwave/bryce kick

I'm not bashing linux, I'm just saying that it is a lot harder to use than windows, and if he isn't already going out to every linux site he can find and downloading kernals and installing them out of curiosity, and reading everything he can about it on his own, then he probably shouldn't bother. Especially if he just wants to do graphics/web design. Linux is fun to play with for something different, but I would definitely stick to windows if you just want something to make web sites on.

deker, in retrospect, you are correct, if your a newbie and don't know (or WANT to know) anything about a *nix environment, i would say go with windows, but if you like to feel challeged or like reading alot of manuals to find out how to do almost anything, linux kicks

It'd be less grief to get the exotic wildlife permits and raise a REAL penguin...

>from a UNIX administrator<

it really depents on what you wanna do, and if you must use linux I'd reccomend slackware http://www.slackware.com
as for getting it cause you like the penguin, well thats just plan stupid, thats like getting windows cause you like well windows ;\, but anyway linux has advantages like good websupport and the ability to install apache and, but if you wannna type 34980230834 lines of code to install something then be my guest

i see ... heh i heard linux was good ... but yeah ... the penguin ROXX

LINUX is the best!!! -- OpenOffice.org is the replacement for MSOffice and its free... there are IE clones like Konquorer - And (yes i know its not as good) GIMP is a powerful graphics editor similar to PS... however there is a new kid on the block called pixel32 it is a direct rip of Phoptoshop only faster... it works on Mac, DOS (yes DOS), LInux, BeOS, OS/2 etc... its http://pixel32.box.sk -- they are not 100% complete with it yet but i have the dos version and it runs soooooo fast.

Also Mandrake Linux 8.2 is easier and faster to install than windows... and you don't need to know linux commands (although if you plan to do web stuff you should know it for Telnet anyway).

But thats just my opinion.

There are really only a couple questions to consider when choosing an OS, and, unless you're an institutional-grade idiot, the mascot or logo is not one of them. Since all modern operating systems can be made to run with quite useable stability and speed, those issues are pretty much moot.

•1) Will you be able to do what you want under the OS? Is the software you NEED available?
•2) When you need to interact with other users or coworkers, will you be able to hand off files back and forth? Will there be any translation problems or software version discrepancies?

If you're using Windows (or a Mac, for that matter) and are having speed or stability issues, you're not digging deeply enough into the problems. Millions of people run both of these systems everday with very few problems and get tons of work done. Some of us even have time for fun using whichever OS we like. If your idea of fun is learning and reading and tweaking, by all means find a distro of Linux to play with (on a separate computer or on a separate partition on your hard drive) until you are comfortable enough with it to be able to answer the listed questions above.

and you don't need to know linux commands (although if you plan to do web stuff you should know it for Telnet anyway).

Never. Ever. EVER EVER EVER. Use Telnet.

If I get a prompt to attempt login to your box, prepare to be hammered. No, I'm not going to attempt to root your box, but you should be very, very careful about what protocol you use for shell access. Telnet sends everything in the open. In otherwords, that password you typed in at the login prompt was sent in plain text.

Anyone with a packet sniffer can get that password if they are listening to traffic on your network. If they get root or even a user account, your box is pretty much useless.

I suggest you use ssh/ssh2 or VPN.