Linux OS

I have got a couple of questions about the Linux Operatiing system. I recently started to play around with the beta of Lornhorn, and I wanted to check out Linux because I have heard good things about it. Here are some of my main questions.

1.) Are most Windows based programs, games, and file extentions compatible with Linux?
2.) What is the latest version of Linux?
3.) Is it free? Trial?...
4.) I would partition my hard drive to install Linux, how big of a partition is recommended? (I have a 200gb hd, so no worries really.)
5.) Why are there so many different 'names' that I have heard of...
6.) As far as knowledge goes, would you recommend me trying Linux? Or should I just not deal with it unless I am totally interested into it?

-thanks in advanced, and I am sorry if these questions have already been answered recently, I could not find any results.
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1) In general no. Some programs are multiplatform though. Others are better under Linux. Many Windows programs can be run under Linux via an emulator.
As for the file extensions, Linux can manage filetype of most other OSes programs.

2) There arer so many distributions it's hard to answer this questions. As for the core part of the GNU/Linux Os, i.e. the Linux kernel, I think the latest version is 2.6.28

3) Free as in free speech, and free as in free beer. Here's a good point from were to start: www.distrowatch.org

4) I'd give 8 GB to root, 2 GB to swap, 10 GB to /home. To be sure. But you can use far less space if you think that's too much. You can also run form CD without installing anything. Look up "Linux Live CD" on google.

5) the reason is freedom

6) Try it. Try a live cd and see if you like it. Only then you might think about installing it.

 

You're playing around with a beta build of Longhorn? As in Windows Longhorn? Or is that also a beta name for a Linux distro?

 

1.) You can run some of the programs in windows in Linux using an emulator, but not all will work or work properly. So it's not like you can just install Linux and drop your files/programs in a they work. Instead what most people do is install the Linux versions of the common programs. For example people who want to burn a CD will install a program called K3B. If you want to listen to an MP3 people will install a program called Rhytem Box. And so fourth...
Linux is it's own world and as such as its own programs to accomplish a variety of tasks. It has a multitude of programs for numerous uses and many do the same task, but do them differently. Which one should you choose? Its up to you. Try them out and stay with the one that works for you.

2.) Linux is a big term. When people say version of Linux they usually refer to the Kernel(the heart of the OS), which has a latest version. Linux is not like Windows, where there is one company that produces it and puts it out. Instead there are numerous company and people involved all releasing various "flavors" of Linux, by using this kernel and modifying it and adding their own programs, hence creating what are known as distributions(ex: Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Fedora, Debian, Arch etc).

3.) See explanation above about the free as in beer vs free as in freedom. basically you are free to download and use any Linux distribution for as long as you want and it will be fully functional. You can even make copies of it and give it to your friends or who ever.

4.) You would have to determine what sizes you would need for your partitions based on you use. I would have 3 partitions: /, /home and SWAP. My / is ~20GB, my /home ~50GB and my SWAP is 1GB since I have 4GB of RAM in my machine.

5.) As mentioned in my #3 answer, these are all distributions with various names but they are all Linux. Each one is geared toward a slightly different demographic of people but they all basically do they same things. They are configured slightly different based on the audience they are trying to hit.
EX: Ubuntu targets first time Linux users and Noobs. They try to provide a easy and comfortable to use distro that "just works" for the new user. I would say this is a good place to start. Gentoo targets experts who want to configure every aspect of their machine and want to compile everything themselves.

6.) Its up to you if you want to try Linux. Are you willing to read and learn? If not then maybe you shouldn't(this goes for others OSs as well such as Windows). If you are it is fun and you get to experience some great things. I personally Love Linux for many reasons and use it 99% of the time on my personal machines, I rarely want or need to use Windows. People have made it much easier to try now with LiveCDs(put the CD in and boot from it to try out Linux, without making any changes to your machine) or distros that you can put on a flash drive and boot from that.

 

I think the OP means they've got their hands on the Win 7 beta. Longhorn was the codename for Vista before release, the code names for Win 7 were Vienna and Blackcomb.

To answer the OP though, as the other posters have mentioned, Linux is all about freedom at root (pun intended)