Afternoon. After well over a decade paying into Bill’s pension fund ,this near fiftysomething has had enough ! So here I am with a Toshiba laptop on which I mainly word process,read a few blogs,shop a bit,surf a little,read the papers. Is Linux for me ? I’m not stupid but I am a non-techie willing to learn. Any pointers ?
Cheers.
Why not try Linux out for yourself, most Linux Distributions these days come as LiveCD’s (a CD that is bootable to a working desktop), or can be installed to a LiveUSB (USB memory stick)… that way you don’t have to change anything on the hard drive, and can decide if Linux is for you.
Another option is to install Ubuntu inside Windows using the WUBI installer… then if you don’t like Ubuntu, you can just remove it from the Windows Add/Remove Programs control panel applet.
My advice would be to try Ubuntu from a LiveUSB (USB memory stick)
Instructions on creating a LiveUSB (in Windows) can be found here:
http://linuxforums.org.uk/general-help-advice/new-installation/msg27382/#msg27382
Obvioulsy Ubuntu is now at version 11.04, but the instructions remain the same 
If you have any further questions, just ask
Cheers Mark, I’ll give it a go !
I would definitely say Linux is for you. It covers everything you’ve stated you do, in a much faster, safer way. Not to mention you won’t pay a penny for any program unless it’s from a 3rd party, for example. Cross-over (An Emulater for running windows programs in Linux) or something like Fluendo packs (Most of them are free). In all honesty though, I think WINE does a much better job than Cross-over and WINE is totally free. But from what you’ve specified Linux is definitely the right path for you! Grab a LiveUSB/CD like Mark said and let yourself decided.
P.S. I’ve been running Ubuntu since 10.04 which was released April 2010. Not had any major problems, just picky little things like SD card reader not working, or something that I’ve perhaps brought on myself.