I think most or at least some commercial UNIX versions have you link the Kernal to get the device drivers loaded that you'll need, although they are starting to get away from this need. Most commercial versions don't include the source so you can't do a total recompile. Recompiling the Kernal has been a part of Linux from the very beginning, a lot of versions of the Kernal have only been available as source. Actual Linux distributions do include "Generic" precompiled Kernals. Smaller because it doesn't have all the garbage you don't need, although mine always end up bigger than they need to, because I include a lot of extra filesystems that I "might" want, but never do. Faster because you can have it optimized for the specific processor you are running (i.e. 486 or Pentium). I don't know about more crashproof, but you can get it so that it supports hardware that you've got in your system that isn't supported by the generic kernals, but that drivers exist for. A much better and more stable OS is what you would get. However, if it isn't something you are interested in doing, the fact that it's better isn't a compelling enough reason to try it. As an example at home my primary machine is a Macintosh, I know that my Pentium running Linux is more stable, and runs a better OS. But I am far more productive on my Macintosh, and the Applications that I want to run are available on the Mac. Oh, and I was running Linux for several years prior to buying my first Mac. Zane | Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Adminstrator | | healyzh(a)ix.netcom.com (primary) | Linux Enthusiast | | healyzh(a)holonet.net (alternate) | Classic Computer Collector | +----------------------------------+----------------------------+ | For Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, | | see http://www.dragonfire.net/~healyzh/ | | For the collecting of Classic Computers with info on them. | | see http://www.dragonfire.net/~healyzh/museum.html |