First, I would like to say welcome! I would suggest booting into Ichthux from the CD for a few days or something while you do some reading up on GNU/Linux. Many people start off in a dual-boot config, and that will likely be what you wind up doing. If you have the money, I agree that getting a 2nd box, either with no OS or pre-installed is a good idea. If you depend on a specific Windows-only application, then dual-boot is the answer. I highly recommend making sure your hardware is supported before you install - the Live CD will help with that, but you might still need to do some research. You can find resources here, at several Christian FOSS sites, and LXer.com. Blessings, DC Parris Editor-in-Chief LXer.com - The world is talking about GNU/Linux and FOSS

Well.... Welcome to Linux. :) If this is your first time, there are you have options on installing. You can dual boot and create a partition for Linux to be installed on. You can get a computer and install Linux directly on it. You can buy a computer with Linux already pre-installed. You can get software for Windows (Say VMWare as an example) that allows you you to install Linux inside a virtual environment. (This is what I do with Ichthux) I would recommend some reading upon it first a bit, there are plenty of good sites out there to check out (www.linux.org, www.linux.com, www.ubuntu.com, plus a host of others)