Linux is free to use, to copy, to distribute and to modify. This makes software developers feel engaged in improving existing software which results in much better designed/capable and more secure than most other propietary closed software.
However, Linux can run closed software perfectly. However, the fact of distributing a source code gives users the option to optimize software for the own machine making it severely faster or environmentally friendly.
It's true that many of the advanced options you may find in Windows are not accessible in Linux but by editing struggling files or typing uncomprehensible commands. but this seems to change from time to time and the competition amongst distributions is a heavy, so every group makes great steps in usability and user-friendliness every release they make.
It's a great chance to explore new horizons without being afraid of compatibility. Don't care about it, there's plenty of programs that will open your PDF's and your MSOffice docs, play your DVD's and get you connected to Messenger. Also, I must say 80% of distributions detected my hardware better than Windows (They even found my rare laptop ATI Radeon Mobility 9000 I couldn't seem to find a driver for, in Windows).
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Edit:
quote:
Originally posted by johny
all linux software will work in any linux mod
This is not always true. You should make sure you download software that's focused on your Visual platform (actually either Gnome or KDE in most cases). Gnome apps will look fairly rough in KDE and vice-versa, will be however usable.
It's also better to choose the most-alike to your distribution package. For example, Ubuntu software will work well on Kubuntu and most likely Debian's, too. At least better than a SuSE- or Mandrake-ported package. (Read above about optimizing)
Other than that, there are several installing methods. But generally, reading the "how to install" or the readme will help you out in installing Red Hat's RPM's in Kubuntu (which is based on Debian).
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