Linux OS

If you are having doubts, I suggest trying "Linux" software which is available for Windows first. (Technically, this is open source software which works on both platformas.) For example: you can download Mozilla, which is a popular web browser. Mozilla and Netscape are pretty much the same program, so you probably won't run into any problems there. Another example: download OpenOffice, and see if it will read your Easy Office documents. If you can open Easy Office documents in Microsoft Office, I suspect that OpenOffice will fit the bill. While you are at it, you may as well try the Windows port of the GIMP to see if it suits your graphics editing needs. I don't know if it will open Photoshop files, but it can certainly open standard image formats (.jpg, .gif, and many others). All of the software I mentioned is free, and they should coexist with your existing applications without harming them. While you are doing this, you may want to obtain Knoppix. Knoppix will boot from your CD-ROM drive and will not harm your existing Windows partition. While this does impose a couple of limits because it will be much slower than booting from your hard drive and you cannot install additional software, it will allow you to see if Linux suits your tastes and needs. And yes, Knoppix is free too. :) Why should you use this approach? You will find that Linux program will run better than Windows programs running under Linux, so you should see if you like the Linux programs first. If you do, you are set! If you don't, maybe you should stick with Windows.