Operating System
Of course there are many different Linux “cores†available; i.e. Debian, Gentoo, Red Hat, Fedora, SuSE, et cetera; all are quite good choices, since they all avoid the implementation of a Windows kernel (of course, anything other than Windows is normally a wise choice). But where do we begin when deciding what Linux distribution is best for me? First off, a few things need to be explained.First off, what is Linux? Linux is a derivative of UNIX, (developed by Bell labs) by Linus Torvalds, hence the “Lin†and then the “ux†representing the part of UNIX. In terms of the actual coding, the Linux kernel (or core, the heart of the operating system) was written for the most part in c89, C.
1. Check Windows Update and Office Update regularly (http://office.microsoft.com/productupdates); have your Office CD ready. Click on the Automatic Updates tab in the System control panel and choose the appropriate options.
2. Install a personal firewall. Both SyGate (www.sygate.com) and ZoneAlarm (www.zonelabs.com) offer free versions.
3. Install a free spyware blocker. SpyBot is also paranoid and ruthless in hunting out tracking cookies.
