For starting off in Linux, I have recommended installing Ubuntu. That is because it is normally incredibly simple, and works perfectly. So is setting up Rev/Linux - much easier than in Windows for example (though even that could hardly be called "difficult").

Before considering the possibility of installing Linux for the first time, make sure you have a separate machine to do it on. That way, if you commit any beginner's errors, there is no harm done.

Next, evaluate the kind of Linux you might want to install by downloading a Live CD first. If any particular distro you are considering does not provide a single Live CD, then forget it. You can find a useful list at http://www.frozentech.com/content/livecd.php .

The purpose of a Live CD is so that you can run Linux on your machine without installing anything at all - it's all done in memory and from the CD itself. If you have Windows already installed on this machine for example, I think that you never need worry about the possibility that it might get accidentally corrupted in any way. At least in my own experience, I have done this many times, and never had the slightest problem.

Make sure your computer's BIOS is prepared for booting from a CD. If it is a good Live CD, then after booting, you will have to do absolutely nothing at all until Linux is up and running from it. By this time, it should have detected all your hardware completely automatically and correctly.

If this is not your experience when running a Live CD, then I suggest you reject it, unless you are adventurous or have some knowledge about Linux. Just try another version or another distro until you find one that is suitable for your machine. And make sure that all your hardware is properly detected and that all the software you are provided with runs to your satisfaction. Anything less is unacceptable.

When finally you are satisfied that the above conditions are met, you can try installing it. In general terms, if the Live CD runs OK, then so will the installed version, but with some distros this is not absolutely guaranteed. When you are running the Live CD in Ubuntu, you will see an icon marked "Install" on the desktop. After double-clicking on it to begin the installation, you will be asked 6 simple questions, such as what name you want to give the machine, what language/time zone you want to use, etc. After that, the installation is completely automatic. If you don't know much about partitioning HDs, then just choose the option for Ubuntu to take charge over the whole computer. Then, go and have a cup of coffee until the installation is complete. That's all there is to it.

That's all there SHOULD be to it. I have installed Ubuntu (my favourite) on a number of machines of different shapes, sizes and ages, and what I have described above corresponds exactly to my experience. However, if you have a different kind of experience, then there is something fundamentally wrong. I have never tried installing Ubuntu on a Macintosh for example, so I don't know what would happen. I can't even remember if this option was available before the appearance of the "Feisty Fawn" version which is due for release on 19th April and is still in Alpha. And of course, there is always the possibility that a particular PC has hardware characteristics that are beyond Ubuntu's capacity to handle, but in general Ubuntu is better than the other distros in this respect.

As for Rev/Linux 2.6.1, the first thing to remember is that it needs no kind of setup at all! It comes in a compressed TAR file if I remember correctly, so all you need is to extract it to the Desktop** or some other place on your HD you might find convenient, and just run it! Again, if you have any other kind of experience, then there is something fundamentally wrong that you need to put your finger on.

[**In Ubuntu, just right-click on the TAR file and choose the "Extract here" option. A single folder containing Rev will then be extracted to the Desktop. Inside the folder, just double-click on the Rev program, and away you go. Associating your .rev stacks with the program is very simple, so I will not outline it here.]

What often confuses people is the fact that in a number of aspects, Linux is simpler than the operating system they are more used to. Of course, there are some aspects of Linux that are highly complex - even more complex than they should be - but these things are normally only for advanced use anyway. The layman doesn't need them. So if you go looking for the equivalent of the "Program Files" folder or the equivalent of the Windows "Registry" and other things, you are likely to confuse yourself. You need to realize that in many respects you are a beginner again, you are going to get confused a bit, and you have a few things to learn, so a bit of old-fashioned humility is not out of place in this situation. Typically, when we make life difficult for ourselves in this way, we hit out by blaming Linux for its deficiencies (some of which may be true) and fail to remember that our own initial experiences with operating systems were just as difficult.

If anybody would like to add or subtract from the general advice to Linux beginners given above, then please feel free. I am not a Linux expert, nor do I ever want to be.
Hopefully, Linux is now well and truly in the hands of its users who are essentially lay people, and personally I think that the layman's perception of Linux is now more valuable than that of the nerds who created it.

Bob