That kind of defeats the point if you are trying to run away from the
world
of MS, but by the sounds of your mail that is not your objective, you just want to learn more about an alternative system, Right ?
If I could safely do it, I'd love to get away from MS. But the dependance on the system at work and everywhere would probably cause me problems at the moment. What I want to do is try to do everything that I do now on Linux, and see whether I come across any terminal problems, if I don't, then there'll be a pile of billgates stuff in the bin. I'm particularly concerned about the way that MS is going, both its domineering in the market place, as well as the way the software is going - overpriced, underfunctioning, too fiddly, totally unstable etc. etc.
Dave.