[[I am as interested in loading Linux on my box as a middle aged housewife that only uses her computer to hit facebook and amazon would be.]]
Try Linux Mint Cinnamon edition- very nice mostly easy OS- it’s absolutely fine for using Internet- email etc- infact it’s much safer online than windows- even Mac- almost all viruses are written for windows- some for Mac- and only a few for linux- Most linux users don’t even run anti-virus it’s considered so safe- You really won’t notice hardly any difference with windows if all you use your comp for it mostly online browsing- email- IF however you need windows only programs, then you’re out of luck mostly- but many programs can be run under wine- but it’s an extra step or two-
90% of my computer time is online with linux- I dual boot- and when i need windows programs (like for gaming or photoshop or whatever) I simply just boot into windows 7 and do what i need to do- save everything to second hard-drive- then boot back into linux- easy peasy-
Love the security of linux for online browsing
A friend of mine runs Linux. He spends more time tweaking the computer than he does using it.
I did Ubuntu and decided it made my computer more than just a commodity I use. If I could just load up the new Linux and continue using all my existing windows compatible programs as if nothing changed, I’d consider it.
I use the Avast web browser for security reasons and because it allows me to, with a click of a button, create high resolution copies of youtube videos or mp3 copies of just the sound. I also play command and conquer generals zero hour.
If that stuff stopped working, I’d be pissed.