There used to be a time when working on Linux was considered to be something only core programmers do. But now with the technological advancement, Linux is reaching more and more people.

One of the main challenges with Linux installations was that the installation was not user friendly and so if you didnt know what you were doing, you could end up messing up your computer and the existing operating system on it.

Thanks to the LiveCD linux distributions, now we dont have to fear playing around and trying Linux. These are linux versions that are available on CD/DVD’s and the operating system is executed upon computer boot. So the complete OS starts running even without any installation. This enables us to try and feel the OS without messing up our computer.

Some best Linux Distro’s (short form of distributions) I have tried:

1 - SLAX
Official website: www.slax.org
Pros:
- Very good community and forum where you can get help
- Small size (around 200MB)
- Can put in an USB or a Mini CD
- Detects most of the drivers
- Lot of add on modules are available on the website
Cons:
- Wireless network detection is not easy

2 - Puppy
Official website: www.puppylinux.org
Pros:
- A very friendly community
- Very small (mostly less than 100 MB) with excellent software collection
- Detects most of the drivers in your PC.

3 - DSL (Damn Small Linux)
Official website: www.damnsmalllinux.org
Pros:
- One of the smallest distribution (around 50 MB)
- Has all basic required software
Cons:
- Extra softwares like Firefox, Open office are all missing - but the
small size cannot be maintained with all the softwares.
- Wireless network detection is not easy

4 - Ubuntu
Official website: www.ubuntu.com
Pros:
- One of the best linux communities around
- Very stable with predictable releases
- Detects almost all the drivers
- Wireless networking works out of the box
- All the best softwares are present
- Good repository system allows easy software installation/upgrade
- Tipsforeveryone.com runs on Ubuntu Server edition :)

There are many other distros. You can get a good list from www.distrowatch.com. Try out and experiment - its a good experience.