Starting with Linux

Linux:
The reason most people want to use Linux is because it's a free open source operating system that tends to be virus free and almost unhackable. Making in generally safer than most other operating system's. The few downsides to Linux is that it can't run everything just yet, though most programs do work in Linux, there are a few that have bugs. The only other downside I can really think of is that it's very confusing and mind boggeling to people at first. I think this is mostly due to how many distros (versions) of Linux there are and how people aren't really sure where to start. But hopefully this guide will solve some of those problems.

About Linux:
These links will explain who made Linux, what it is, how it came to be, that sort of stuff. I'm not really going into all that on my own since this is an explaination of how to get Linux, not the other stuff. If you want to learn about the other stuff, like I said before just check out the sites below.

http://www.linux.org/info/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux

Linux Distros:
Now on to the different versions of the OS, I'll provide links to main page of the site as well as a link to the download section. (I found it hard to find it on some sites.)
(Most versions of Linux can be burned to a CD or DVD and have the computer boot from the disc to allow the user to "test drive" the version of Linux before they actually decide to install it.)

Ubuntu: http://www.ubuntu.com/
Download: http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download

Knoppix: http://www.knoppix.org/
Download: The URL doesn't change so, click download, find a server near you (couple US ones near the bottom), click HTTP, click accept, scroll down the list and find "KNOPPIX_V3.7-2004-12-08-EN.iso" OR press CTRL-F and search for it.

DSL: http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/
Download: http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/download.html
Click the mirror you want to use, either way you'll see the same thing, just click "Archive" and find "damnsmall-0.4.10.iso"

Sabayon: http://www.sabayonlinux.org/
Download: http://www.sabayonlinux.org/mirrors
Find the right mirror for you, and depending one which one you use, you might find the same "Archive" deal as the others, or just a download page. Either way find the correct file for you.

OpenSUSE: http://www.opensuse.org/en/
Download: http://software.opensuse.org/

Slax: http://www.slax.org/
Download: http://www.slax.org/get_slax.php

PuppyLinux: http://www.puppylinux.org/
Download: http://www.puppylinux.org/downloads/official-releases/puppy-linux-412

LinuxMint: http://linuxmint.com/
Download: http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php

Fedora: http://fedoraproject.org/
Download: http://fedoraproject.org/en/get-fedora

Are none of these what you were looking for? Check out this list for a version that fits you.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_distributions

Not sure if a version you want has a Live CD? Check out these sites for a list of them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_live_CDs

http://www.livecdlist.com/

Burning:
Now after you completed the download/s you should have a file called an ISO file. This is a disc image file and there are a few programs out there that can burn this to a CD/DVD with no problems. Here are a few of them:

ISO-Burner: http://www.ntfs.com/iso-burning.htm

MagicISO: http://www.magiciso.com/tutorials/miso-burnwin.htm

Nero 7: http://www.download.com/Nero-7-Ultra-Edition/3000-2646_4-10582585.html
(8 sucked..)

Nero 9: http://www.nero.com/enu/nero9-introduction.html

Basically just run the program, select the file, set the speed to a kinda mid-range burning speed (the slower it is the less chance you'll screw the disc up and make it useless) and burn the disc.

ISO-Burner is probably the easiest of all the ones I listed, and I've had no problems with it any time I used it to burn disc images.

Running:
Now that you've created the CD/DVD all you need to do is put it in your drive, shut down the computer, and reboot it. The computer will automatically boot from the CD/DVD most of the time, and the OS will start right up running from the CD/DVD, so don't take out the disc. If the computer does NOT boot from the disc, you might have to change how the computer boots via the BIOS menu. I can't explain how this is done since it's different on every machine, so you'll have to find that out on your own. A warning though, you can very easily mess up your computer if you don't know what you're doing in BIOS, so be very careful.

I, nor any one else involved with this blog, are not responsible for any harm that may come to your computer.