Forays into Linux
This week I went to the non-Windows side, and so far its been awesome!
I opted for a dual boot of Windows7 and Linux-Mint14 (MATE UI).
Its so clean and informative, I'm happy to remove the layer of abstraction between the machine and user that Windows creates, Windows is obviously a good thing for general office users. However linux appears to suit people that are more interested in the internals.
Couple of great references I used:
Pen Drive Linux - Allows you to grab a linux distro (.iso) from a site (e.g Mint, Ubuntu, Backtrack etc.) and load that onto a USB, I think this is better than the rival Unetbootin as that one does not allow you to load an .iso it pulls the one down that you select from a mirror and then loads it on the USB, it also only offers a persistence partition for Ubuntu whereas Pen drive can add the persistence partition to any linux distribution.
How to remove a dual-boot that you decide was a bad idea - You may try a live usb of the distro then rush in to override the Master Boot Record (MBR) and partition your drive, but then later decide that you wanted a different distro, or not even dual boot. That link details how to remove if necessary.
Creating a Windows install USB - Comes in handy if you need to repair the MBR so you can remove the dual boot, most laptops will come with Windows on the box and you don't always get the disk.
So now I'm trying to get savvy with the Linux Terminal and figure out what Windows cmdline and PowerShell skills are transferable. Probably have to give Python a shot at some point as parseltongue is common speak in linux.
I've been missing out on an exciting hidden world for a very long time!!