Rather than giving you all the advantages & thus feeding you hype and not truth, let me first give you some truth and then I will present the advantages. What you are about to read may seem snobish or arrogant. Please understand that I type this so you might get an acurate assessment of Linux and not only believe the hot air & hype.

Simply put: Moving to a new OS is a learning experience. When your linux experience is over, it did not matter how much we hyped it up, or how good linux is over windows. It depends on if you are willing to invest both time & effort into learning something. That something is defined by you. Only you can decide what you want to learn and where you want to invest your time & effort.

Many people (myself included) have spent YEARS in windows & using MS products. It is during these years of use that we are actually learning the in's & outs of it all, so that living with a MS Windows OS comes naturally. Thus we have spent time & effort to learn Windows or learn how to operate a PC without realizing that it we were learning.

The central idea is this: Moving to a new OS such as Linux requires the same open mind and the same time & effort it took to learn Windows. I recommend that you try to find a friend, cousin, aunt, brother-in-law, teacher, whatever that knows enough about Linux to be a guide for you.

Fortunetly, you have posted your question in these great forums and it seems that you have chosen Knoppix as your new OS experience. You have made a great choice and now I wil give you the advantages you were looking for.

Advantages of using Knoppix Linux
- 1 CD + reboot PC = Linux environment that does not eat or delete your current Windows files
- No spyware to steal your credit card info or your identity.
- No browser pop ups to annoy you.
- No viruses to crash your PC.
- Free as is in a free meal. It has no real price except tfor time & effort.
- Freedom, as in freedom of speech. You can do anything with it. You are allowed & encouraged to make copies for friends.
- Many applications come standard such as music mp3 player, word processor or spreadsheet, web browser, image editor.

Start here http://www.knoppix.net/docs/index.php/FaqGeneral for answers to general questions on Knoppix Linux and if you are so inclined, then please ask your questions here in this thread.
I hope this helps.
James