Is this something to consider?

[S.S.Mario]

I'm thinking about building a new system soon as a free time project, but I'm not sure if I wanna go with crappy windows again. Is Lindows worth it? It looks pretty good, but does it actually run all the stuff windows can? This is important since I like to play comp games, so is it just another gooey (I know i spelled it wrong, but that's how it sounds....) interface for lynix or is it a true alternative to windows?

[Dswissmiss]

Linux does not run all the programs windows does, but has many more alternatives to each of these windows products. Some windows products can be run under Wine however, but in my experience (beginner) it's hard to configure. Linux won't run most games either. If you're only using your comp for music, internet and using office software it's definately an alternative to consider.
I would recommend you stick with windows and play your games on it, but dual boot with a free linux distro which you can download and play around with.
There are a few linux distributions that are as easy as Lindows, such as mandrake, ark linux, and a few other distributions. You can even download a bootable linux version just to see how it feels. Knoppix is the most popular of those.
Check out www.distrowatch.com for more information on different distributions.

Dswissmiss

[LocoCoyote]

I have been playing around with the Linux/Windows software problem for a bit now.
I want to run MS office (let's face it..the best office suite out there) and some form filler software (windows again)

I am wanting to run SuSE as my full time OS, but had the above mentioned problem...


What to do...........
well, I upgraded to SuSE 9 and purchased the "Wine rack"
This is really only Crossover office, the plug-in, and Wine. Guess what....it works like a charm!

Not only does it work well with MS office, but I have had good results with many other windows only software apps.

I highly recommend it!

[Dswissmiss]

For a free version give www.openoffice.org a try, I use it on windows as well, and I've never had any problems with it, but wine is always an alternative for programs you can't find better alternatives for.

[S.S.Mario]

That sounds pretty good, but for a slightly dumbed down traslation, will I be able to run GTA3, for example?

[Dswissmiss]

I'm not sure about specific games, so wait for more answeres, but off the top of my head I beleive Return to Castle Wolfenstein and a few other big games have linux versions, but it's still very rare. You can try to check amazon or other sites where you can buy games at to see if that game comes in a linux version. If not you may have to use a program called Wine x to play windows games on linux, but it's very hard to configure for beginners.
I would also recommend against buying Lindows off the bat in any case. Try other free distros that are easy to install to get the feel for linux first, since the only major difference between distros are package management (eg. windows uses .exe, linux uses RPM, deb packages and others) and how easily it installs.