For people who have heard of the open-software operating system and have been afraid to try it, Brickner makes it easy and safe. This version of Linux runs directly from the disk, so there is no danger whatever of messing up the Windows system on the computer; to stop the test, turn off the computer and take out the disk before turning it back on. The book explains what can be done with Linux and how to do it. Brickner writes and edits books, was a Windows system administrator for eight years, and has been running Linux since 1998. Annotation ©2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR