I'm just about to attempt a switch from Windows to Linux. But knowing absloutly nothing about the platform its self I have a few questions before I begin:
1: What version? I need one thats kind of midway. I don't want it to be too advanced but I also want to avoid the total newbie one. I'm mostly going to be using it for school, net (just browsing, nothing too advanced) and programming.
2: Can I get office? Right now I have all my files saved through office XP. They are vital for school so i can't risk losing them. What sort of office suit is there in Linux and can it read from office XP?
3: How do I network it? So far I've been careless and lazy, just letting windows handle the networking for me. My computer connects through a shared connection with an XP machine. This is set up automaticly with windows but I'll need to find out how to do it on linux and I've got no idea where to even start looking (and no I can't change the os on the other computer).
4: What do I need to keep devloping for windows? The major assignment for the programming course I'm doing at school has to run under windows. What do I need to compile for windows and what do I need to run something compiled for windows.
5: How do I change my file system? Right now both my hard discs are running with NTFS. I need to keep the data on atleast one, so how do I just convert the file system with out a full format?
6: What happens when I get bored? What games are out on linux and how availiable are they?
I know this is a big post by yet another annoying newbie, but I will be very grateful for any help you do give.