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There are lots of different 'kinds' of Linux with different features, functions and appearance. This is because people take the basic Linux system and 'package' it together with hardware drivers, desktops and useful software. This kind of 'packaged' Linux is called a 'distro'. You can find listings, news and reviews of distros at DistroWatch

This workshop deals only with the Ubuntu Linux distro. The reason for this is that Ubuntu is designed to be very easy for beginners and non-techies to install and use. It has commercial backing which enables it to develop fast and offer an excellent range of features but it also has very strong ethical policies. You can find out more about the Ubuntu Community here.

Basic audit:

• Make a note of the specifications of your computer (look in Control Panel -> System to find out your what your processor, RAM and operating system are).
• The quickest way of getting an overview of your system is to install Belarc Advisor, run it and print off the output. If you don't want to do this, go to your Windows Device Manager and make a list of your hardware. If you put your computer's model and the word 'specification' into Google you may hit lucky and fnd a nice, tidy spec of your system and hardware — print it! Don't wipe your hard drive without having a clue what your system is — you also need a note of your Windows and any other product keys in case you want to put your Windows system back on. Belarc Advisor will record product keys or you can find small applications which will find your Windows and MS Office product keys. You can also retrieve them from the registry but I wouldn't try this if you don't know what you're doing.
• Don't forget your peripheral devices which are not always attached (USB drives, cameras, mp3 players, printers etc) — do you have drivers for these in case you change your mind and want to put Windows back on? Do they have Linux drivers? To find out whether they will work well with Linux, type the product's model number into Google with the world 'linux' — you will usually be able to find something out. See under 'hardware' below for more information.
• Make a note of your screen resolution (control panel -> display -> settings) — you might need to know this. Ubuntu will install most screens corectly but you might need this info if you do encounter problems
• Make a list of the software you really need (again, Belarc Advisor will record what you have installed)
• Download Ubuntu and make an Ubuntu CD (if you don't have CD Burning software, you can use CDburnerXP Pro, a reliable free application which can do this (follow these instructions for burning DBAN with CDburnerXP Pro, burning Ubuntu will be the same)
• Run the Ubuntu live CD — is everything (important) working? Make a list of what obviously isn't working. Is there anything whichi would be a deal-breaker that can't be fixed?
• Make a list of important data and customisations (scripts, macros, mailboxes, addressbooks etc) and make sure your files and folders are sensibly organised in one place. VB scripts often don't run on OOo — is this a deal-breaker?

Decision time:

Be clear about your needs, what will or won't work with Ubuntu, and what compromises you're prepared to make:

• There are sites which will help you find out how well different hardware products will work with Linux — LinuxQuestions Hardware List is a very good place to start. Laptop owners can read about other people's experience of installing different Linux distros at Linux on Laptops. There is also an Ubuntu Laptop Testing Team who give detailed information about installing Ubuntu on different laptops
• Research Ubuntu alternatives to your 'must have' software. There's a quickref guide to popular Linux software ('packages') here. You'll find a complete list of Ubuntu software here (make sure you've got the right page for your Ubuntu version)
• Check the minimum requirement for the Linux system you want to install. Ubuntu system requirements here. Xubuntu system requirements here. Compare with your system specification. Will your computer run Ubuntu or will you need the 'lighter' Xubuntu version?
• You can usually find instructions to work out how to export/convert your data (mailboxes, addressbooks, bookmarks etc) by using a search engine. Ubuntu's most popular email applications (Evolution and Thunderbird) will import automatically from Outlook.

If everything will work and you're ready to go:

• Do you want to do a clean install of Ubuntu/Xubuntu and move entirely to Linux in one step?
• Would you rather take it in stages and consider dual booting or Wubi?

If you've got important hardware that won't work or software/scripts that you can't import or find alternatives for — but you still want to move towards free software:

• You could consider dual booting. LinuxDevCenter gives illustrated, step-by-step instructions on how to dual-boot Windows and Ubuntu
• If dual-booting is a bit too techie for you, try Wubi. You just download Wubi, burn it to CD, insert the Wubi CD whilst Windows is running and Wubi will offer you 4 different types of Ubuntu installation. Wubi installs to a file on your Windows drive without touching your existing Windows installation and creates a boot menu so you can choose whether to load Windows or Ubuntu at startup.
• For software or games which don't have Linux alternatives, WINE is 'compatibility layer' which lets you run many Windows applications on Linux
• Wireless cards can be hard to install on Linux. NDISwrapper can often be used to run the Windows driver on Linux

If you decide to stay exclusively with Windows for the time being:

• You could start building gradually towards making the change by using free/libre cross-platform applications on Windows. You can find a list of free software alternatives which will run on Windows here, another very good list of windows free software here, or find a good selection on the OpenCD which you can either download free or order on CD for a minimal fee
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