Want to break free from a Microsoft world? Leigh Dyer looks at the alternatives.

Spiffy KDE 4.1, plus LXDE for netbooks

Four years ago, I saw a picture of a very beautiful desktop interface, called 'Enlightenment', running on an Operating System called 'Linux'. I didn't know much about either, but I downloaded and installed Linux anyway in order to run that fine looking user interface. Thanks to that early interest, I now enjoy a wonderful job designing and maintaining networks in which Linux often fills an important role. There's no better way to learn something new than for it to be enjoyable. With this in mind, I'd like to present Mike's Hopefully nifty guide to having fun with Linux.

Download the latest version of Mandriva Linux

Despite various attempts at Windows Desktop alternatives, Linux is still best suited to servers, for which Red Hat is by far the most popular choice. With this in mind, it came as no surprise when in May 2002 Red Hat split its product line in two: Linux and Enterprise Linux.