As requested, I'll try and outline why I am interested in Linux, along with a few first impressions, although I am certainly not a technical person, so I am more interested in what it does rather than how it does it. I like the idea of Linux being open source - in fact I would say it is something I believe in quite strongly, and I used several open source applications while I was running Windows. I was also fed up with the numerous security flaws I encountered in every version of Windows I used, and despite the best protection around, was still plagued with spam, spyware, trojans and viruses. It seems that Linux, for whatever reason, has largely avoided this.
If I have a concern about using Linux, it is less to do with it as an operating system and more to do with my inability to comprehend it. While I suspect that this is not uncommon in the first week of use, I have to say that it has seemed fiendishly complicated to do even very basic things like install applications or get the hardware configured - this has necessitated ploughing through long lines of unfathomable code of the kind I usually try to avoid. I am hoping that I will either become used to it, or more likely, that having got the system set up the way I like it, I can have as little to do with opening the terminal window as possible. In short, I'm looking for a smooth and reliable graphical interface that is simple to use, relatively secure, and has the additional benefit of being open source.
Jeremy