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Last year was one big coming-out party for Linux. Attended by a buzz worthy of a Microsoft product launch, this Unix-like operating system arrived on the computing scene as the Next Big Thing. Existing Linux companies made plans to go public, new Linux companies sprang up like lemonade stands during a heat wave, and companies that had never heard of the OS stumbled over themselves to adopt a "Linux strategy" (and watch their stocks rise). Major Windows-only computer vendors such as Dell and IBM started offering server and desktop equipment with "Linux inside."

For Windows users, the Linux hype raises many questions.

Is Linux just another computing fad soon to disappear from the headlines, like push technology? Or is it here to stay, like the Web? Not only is it here to stay, but the number of people using it at the corporate and desktop levels continues to mushroom.

What makes Linux so special compared with other OSs? It's inexpensive to install and maintain, resists crashes better, and can run on numerous platforms--from Intel-based PCs and Apple Macintoshes to high-end Sun servers.

Could Linux become a realistic alternative to your Windows desktop? Perhaps--and sooner than you may think. Dell Computer now offers entire lines of PCs and notebooks with Linux preinstalled. A new company, Tuxtops, sells an array of competitively priced Linux-only notebooks ranging from power to ultraslim. And Corel is making desktop Linux a more palpable reality with no-sweat installation, a user-friendly desktop, and the promise of a tool that will let you use Windows applications (if your PC is set up in a networked environment).

If You Love Something, Set It Free

From all the hype, you probably know that Linux is open-source software--which means that Linux users can download, test, use, alter, and copy it as much as they want. Among its benefits, open-source software is supposedly more stable than proprietary, or closed-source, software. The reason is simple: peer review. When something goes wrong with open-source software, any programmer can go "under the hood," analyze what's wrong, and immediately offer solutions for all users. (Just try that approach when you find a bug in Windows.)

Windows users will find the willingness of the open-source community to respond to bug reports downright astonishing. For instance, when I found a bug in a third-party Linux ICQ client, I e-mailed the author about it, and--voilà! A new, corrected version appeared within 48 hours.

Like the Internet, Linux isn't controlled by a single company. Linus Torvalds created the "kernel"--the core of the alternative operating system--in 1991 while he was still a student at the University of Helsinki, and he chose to make it available to everyone. Developers are free to change the kernel source code for their own purposes, but all of the modifications they introduce must be made public, and many are submitted to Torvalds for incorporation in later versions of the kernel.

Torvalds himself works for a company that doesn't even produce a version (or distribution) of Linux for PCs. Instead, that job has fallen to such firms as Caldera, Corel, Debian, and Red Hat. Each of these companies takes the Linux kernel and adds its own embellishments--a unique graphical user interface (GUI), various applications and applets, a customized setup program, system utilities that keep everything running smoothly. As a result, distributions of Linux differ much as competing brands of raspberry yogurt in a grocery store do.

Though anyone can download the latest kernel for free, Linux distributors generally charge for their particular add-ons and technical support (see "Pick Your Flavor of Linux").

People who've adopted the OS--from staff members of corporate IT departments to end users--say Linux is a stable operating system that rarely crashes. That news surely gives pause to companies considering an upgrade to Windows 2000.

Frohwitter, an international patent attorney firm, had considered upgrading its network operating system from Windows NT to Windows 2000 but opted for Linux instead.

"We wanted Linux for its stability and also to preclude the need to upgrade to Windows 2000," notes Ronald Chichester, a lawyer with the firm. "One of our staff attorneys writes chemical patent applications. She discovered that Windows NT crashed up to three times per day. But now that we run NT on top of Linux, her computer has not crashed in weeks."

Like most businesses, Frohwitter depends on an array of Windows-based applications and didn't want to lose access to them. But by using VMware's $299 VMware for Linux ($99 for individual, nonbusiness users), the firm can get the stability of Linux while still using Windows apps. Corel will be adding similar functionality to its Corel Linux OS, thereby enabling users to access and display Windows applications running on networked servers. Although Linux currently enjoys a 25 percent share of the server market, it commands only 4 percent of desktop operating systems sold, according to figures provided to PC World by sister company IDC.

Corel, which is probably best known for desktop PC apps such as CorelDraw and WordPerfect Office, is banking on the anticipated Linux juggernaut. The company is reorganizing itself and has merged with software giant Inprise/Borland in an attempt to become a Linux powerhouse. According to Derik Belair, director of strategic applications for Corel, Linux's stability and versatility are its central strengths. "Linux can power a handheld device or run a cluster of very powerful machines. And [because the architecture is open] we can make all these devices talk to each other," says Belair.

Other Linux developers share Belair's opinion. Bob Young, the chairman of Linux distributor Red Hat, notes that the operating system is ideal for thin clients (for example, PCs used exclusively to run a Web browser) and for Internet-connected appliances such as the Red Hat Linux-based TiVo set-top box for television. Even Royal--a business machine maker since the half-forgotten days of the manual typewriter--is porting Linux to its line of low-cost DaVinci handheld personal organizers.