Below, you will find some of the BE Enterprises recommended** operating systems. There are dozens or possibly hundreds more available out there, but these are what I would call some of  the easy ones to install and use. The thing to keep in mind when looking at a new Operating System is what you want to do with it.  If you just want to browse the internet and send and recieve e-mail, then any OS should do the trick.  The advantages of Linux are that you will not be effected by viruses and other malware nearly as easily as on a Windows PC.  MacOS is also free from most malware and hacker attacks, but you pay a serious premium for that safety which can be had for free on Linux.  All you need to run most Linux versions is a moderately equiped PC that is less than 12 years old or newer (older ones work too, but they are still comparatively slow).  If you have a desire to play Windows games on a Linux box, you still need to meet the minimum requirements for those games.  Linux will run fine on an older PC, but you may desire to use a faster machine to gain the bells and whistles that newer hardware will allow.  Linux can be visually stunning on newer hardware, and you can even make it look and feel almost like Windows or Mac if you desired to put in the extra time it takes to set all that up.  And that leads me to the final point (in this article) about Linux in general; You can do with it what you want to do.  You can configure it to do just about anything that a computer can do. There is one major caveate to using Linux in a business envioronment:  Quickbooks won't run on Linux without major headaches, or unless you install it on a Virtual Windows inside Linux.  So, if you absolutely, have to run Quickbooks or other Intuit Accounting software on your PC, then you will need to either find a new Linux accounting program (there are several), or run Windows for your accounting requirements.

If you want me to setup a Linux PC for you to use, give me a call, and join the Free Software Revolution!  Have fun!

Linux Mint is a very slick linux operating system. Originally launched as a variant of Ubuntu with integrated media codecs (which usually have to be added as Ubuntu will not include proprietary software on their disto), it has now developed into one of the most user-friendly distributions on the market - complete with a custom desktop and menus, several unique configuration tools, and now also available in a 64bit version as well as the standard 32bit version. This version of Linux has an active and vocal community which drives the OS into a very mature and useful operating system.

Ubuntu Ultimate Edition - This is a branch off of the basic Ubuntu package.  It is loaded and ready for business as soon as you install it.  Games?  Yes, they have that, this is one of the versions of Linux I would recommend to those looking for free rich featured games.  There is one thing about this distro to be aware of however, it is a one man show.  One person is responsible for most of the updates and upgrades.  Of course, he has the benefit of the main Ubuntu Community doing constant updates to the core of his work, but it can be here one day and gone the next.  It's important to use a version that can be constantly in use by a large community of users and developers.  That being said, this OS rocks!

Sabayon Linux - Based on the very extensible 'Gentoo Linux', Sabayon offers a complete out-of-the-box experience, it comes with pre-installed media codecs, drivers, and games. New versions are released in a short amount of time. This means that you don't have to go through the headaches of updating by hand to the latest and greatest software available. Also, you don't have to fiddle around with updates, making this distribution that much easier. Unlike most other distributions, it's completely independent from commercial interests. No big firm stands behind Sabayon Linux and dictates what it should do. The developers of Sabayon Linux are all users from other Distributions, so they started to make a distribution "from users for users". This is a huge, very versatile install and has a lot to offer to new users as well as experienced Linux developers.

gOS - "Good OS" is small, to the point, and easy to use.  There may be some installations you need to do to use it, and it always needs a little cleanup after install too.  There are a lot of widgets and such that the makers feel need to be there.  I find them inane, and fairly useless.  I prefer a nice clean install.  However, this is a solid system, even on older hardware.  I have installed it on machines that WinXP simply crawled on, and the Vista couldn't even be installed on, and it runs just fine.

Also included in this free distro arena are:
FreeSpire, Dream Linux, PClinuxOS, and more...

There are also Linux Distros that are not free to use, and this is how the companies that write them make money to support their work.  Most Linux companies today have moved to a donation system for the work they do.  This works well for the good ones and weeds out those that simply don't make the grade on smooth operation and stable systems integration. Some "distros" are not even a company interest, but instead are completely enthusiast and user driven.  This means that the Linux community that supports a particular distro is going to be far more responsive to change requests and issues than a big company would be.  Can you imagine Microsoft being concerned that a certain graphics card doesn't work with their OS?  They'd tell you to bring it to the graphics card manufacturer, and then you are back to telling a company about it's failings...  The silence can be deafening!  Not so with an active Linux community.  You post a problem in the forums, and you are likely to get an answer sooner than later.

Here are a couple of the Commercial Linux Distros:

Redhat - Free Open Source versions include:  Fedora, and Cent OS

Mandriva - One of the flashiest versions available.  New update: They now offer a free version 'Mandriva Linux Free 2010', as well as their "live CD" version called 'MandrivaOne'. The only free version they used to offer was the

There are others, but I am more interested in the Free Linux Systems.  If someone is interested in some other non-free OS's, let me know, and I can gather some info for a review.

FreeBSD (on which MacOSX was originally based) is another Unix Like system that is very similar in look and feel to Linux.

**NOTE: BE Enterprises is not responsible for any issues that arrise from using any of these Operating Systems. Anyone who wants to experiment with a new OS, whether it is Linux, or some version of the Windows Operating System, must understand that data must be backed up, and installing an OS over your old data will destroy the data on the hard drive. Please make sure that you are ready, and backed up before installing any new operating system on your computer.