Art,

A shopping list, to say the least, I will attempt to contribute to answers, to what I know...

Your Questions:
1. Which is the best & easiest to install Linux distribution to work with Win2K programs ?
***** Never worked with Win2k - I used Win98 with mine, previously, and now just run Knoppix straight, only. Can't help on this one...

2. Is there a comparable program to Mathematica, or should I upgrade to a Mathematica Linux one?
***** No clue on this one either...

3. Are you aware of finance programs on Linux?
***** "Finance" being bookkeeping, as in accounts payable/receivable? Not sure, unless it comes inside OpenOffice, which is included on the Knoppix CD, or can be attained through a "package" that can be gotten - see below on "getting packages"

4. Why are there so many new releases of Linux?, Is there a need to keep ones Linux OS upgraded for the latest release?
***** "Flavors" I think is the term, Linux comes in many "flavors". Red Hat, Debian, Linux, Mandrake - mostly the "flavors" are for look and feel, or have some "customized" changes that take into account specific needs/systems - like Laptops, etc... (I think this is the answer)

5. Once installed, is it easy to upgrade through a CD (which can be burned from with a PC which has cable access)? & what do I need to do to upgrade?
***** Upgrading and Updateing is easily done through a commond. "apt-get", which can not only "update" current programs, libs, and other stuff, but, can "upgrade" the same to newer versions, and lastly, the command can also "get" new programs (called packages") from the numerous stockpile in the world, and install them, with any extra needed libs, etc... In one step. The whole process keeps track of "dependencies" of all the programs, and if an attempt is made to "stomp" (as it is known in the Windows World) - apt-get will allert you to this, before it lets something trash something already installed.

6. If I am assembling a PC/ buying one from a computer show, What are the things that I should look out for towards Linux & Windows PC.
***** First, WinModems - bad for Linux, good for WIndows - try and use an external (hardware) modem - the kind you plug into your seriel port in the back of the system - as for anything else - NEWER is not always BETTER - from what I hear, you want to buy hardware - video, sound, etc... what was "last years" latest and greatest - that way Linux developers have had the chance to get drivers, or add the support for them, into the OS. In other words, buying this years Super-Doper-Wiz-Bang-Top-Of-The-Line-Lightning-Speed Video Card, may not be supported in Linux, but may be supported in Windows. Nice on the pocket-book, though.

7. If I have a base Linux on PC, can I use different CDs to run other extra programs that I don’t want installed on a PC?
***** Hmmmm, sounds like a double-edged sword here - If you have, say a game, and want to play it, and it runs on the CD, it would depend on what OS it runs on - if it is Windows, you may need to try and work it through Wine, if it is DOS, no answer, if it is native Linux - yes.

8. If I use Linux PC, can I download Win programs onto Linux PC and run them using WINE?
***** Depends on the program. If it is something that requires a lot of Windows behind it, I would say, use Windows for it, it couldn't hurt to try Wine on it though. Worst case, it won't work, but, I am sure people here have many ways to get you to something other than Wine, that might get it to work.

Thanks a lot for taking your time to answer these questions.
***** No problem Art, hopefully I helped a little, on "some" of the answers. I am QUITE sure, others will additionally be posting responses. So, keep tuned

Cuddles