I have come across many people who are afraid of installing linux as ther OS. I too was one of them but i came to know about VMware and Virtual Appliances. Virtual Appliances are pre-installed operating systems in a virtual hdd. U will require VMware player to open the virtual hdd.

Getting Started:
There are many flavours of Linux. If you are new to Linux i would suggest you a simple but efficient linux distribution named Ubuntu.

First of all download VMware Player(free) from VMware's website(google it) and install it. Then you need a virtual appliance or Virtual Image for it. Many of them can be found at www.linuxtracker.org. I found one too of Ubuntu there. The link is:(U may need to register with them)

Code:

http://linuxtracker.org/torrents-details.php?id=2392&hit=1

As it is a bit-torrent download i suggest that u all may be knowing how to download the file

Download and extract the zip(shud be arround 2-3 GBs don't really remember now) and then you are set.

U will get two files one with extension .vmx and the other with .vmdk. The vmx file is your configuration file while .vmdk is the virtual hard disk. Double click the vmx file to start the os.

Note: The deault memory of virtual os is 320mb. if u get any problem relating memory u can change it in the vmx file by opening it with notepad.(screenshot below)



Loging in:

If u get it all right till now vmware will boot up the OS and will show u the login screen. The default password set for this Virtual Machine are:

Username: Ubuntu
Password: Ubuntu
Root's Password: Ubuntu

It's all done!

After u login u'll get a splash screen followed by the ubuntu desktop. From there i leave it u as ubuntu is very easy.

Hope you enjoyed the guide.

Regrards,
Gaurav

More Support About Ubuntu can be found at:

Code:

www.ubuntuforum.com

and of-course

www.pronetworks.org.

If any error or problem pls post. Will always be ready to help u .