Don,
I've always maintained that Unix is an excellent operating system. It might look very daunting for a computer novice to learn, but the sheer versatility of Unix/Linux it what makes it such an excellent OS for programming and technical work.
I suppose being an ex-telephone engineer might make me just a
little biased, of course!
Some links for anyone wanting to learn more [This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 10-09-2003).]