As Linux begins to hit the headlines in the mainstream media and its security, power and versatility becomes apparent, curiosity will tempt many to consider trying it out. The cost of our operating systems is becoming a greater proportion of what we pay when we buy a computer: hardware costs continue to fall as performance increases (see Moore's Law), yet operating system costs continue to remain the same. When we can buy a desktop for around £300 and 20% is for Microsoft Windows, we could make some obvious savings by using Linux. Remember, when you buy a new PC, you are automatically charged for the installation of Microsoft Windows, whether you want it or not. Look at a few of the 55 million hits for a search on Google for "windows tax" and you'll get the picture; there are some promising stories out there as well!

It isn't easy to forget the early days and the daunting feelings when installing Linux for the first time, frightened that the computer would be rendered unusuable!. Ten years or so ago, installation involved downloading a series of files to floppy disk and partitioning the hard drive with a couple of relatively unknown tools, unless you were lucky enough to have Partition Magic; then followed text-based selection of installation packages and the battle of dealing with somewhat unreliable floppies during the installation. Post-installation didn't get easier either, configuration files needing to be modified to get the boot loader installed and graphical user interface(GUI) running. While running both Windows and Linux on the same computer, Windows would inevitably need its all-too-frequent reinstall, necessitating a reinstall of the Linux bootloader because Windows simply couldn't deal with the fact it was not the only operating system: not a situation that any of us, bar the die-hard experimentalists among us, would be happy living with.

So, if you want to try the experience, how do you go about it? There are two easy methods that will allow you to run Linux on your PC with no risk to your data.

The bootable CD.

Many Linux distributions are available as a bootable CD or DVD.  Simply put the disc in the drive, restart the computer and you're running Linux. It's as simple as that. No installations to the hard disk or playing around with disk partitions.
If you have a broadband connection, the simplest option (free and immediate) is to download an image from one of the distribution sites. Once downloaded, you can use your favourite CD/DVD burning application to write this to disk.  The image will usually be called <some name>.iso, indicating that it is a raw disk copy and should be burned using the write-raw-image or burn-iso option. A few of the more common live distributions are listed below.

Virtualisation.
As vendors scramble for the marketplace, vitualisation is the new hot topic sweeping the IT press. Virtual machines enable you to run many operating systems as virtual computers on your desktop. For large corporations, this could be a saver of financial and energy costs: having thousands of virtual computers served from a handful of high-spec servers. For someone wishing to try out Linux, virtualisation provides the opportunity to run Linux as if it were installed while still running Windows. You can use one of the Linux live CD/DVD distributions to install or obtain a full distribution by download or purchase.
The most stable and fully featured virtual server software is supplied by VMWare Corporation, who offer a completely free version with no time-restricted license of their VMWare Server product. Once installed you can create a virtual machine at the click of a couple of buttons and install the operating system, even other copies of Windows provided you hold a valid license.