Using Linux for the First Time - Any Help or Suggestions?

[AE_Collector]

Since I am retiring soon I will be losing my Laptop Computer as work wants it back! Someone gave me a "previously enjoyed" IBM Thinkpad that they wiped clean and installed what I assume is a version of Linux called Peppermint three. This is the firs tI have had to do with Linux....ever so while I am surprised at how similar to Windows it appears to be I still have a big learning curve.

I have managed to get the WiFi working and am starting to get the hang of using Google Chrome which was on it. I have tons of Office Word and Excel files on my computers. How will I use them....or will I be able to?

Until now I have always stuck with the MicroSoft products most likely because it is just easier to use what you already know. This Laptop had MS Windows XP Pro on it and still has the product key on the bottom. That makes me wonder why if XP Pro is bought and paid for AND I have the product key, why can't I reinstall it and use my key? I still have XP Pro on my other two desktop computers so XP Pro seems perfect for this Laptop.

Anyway, what else do I need to know and does anyone have other suggestions for a novice Linux user?

Thanks.....Terry

[twocvbloke]

You can actually reinstall XP on the laptop if you wish, you just need to get the right CD (which is a PITA as they seem to adjust them to match the keys sold to computer manufacturers!!!), instructions on how to do it from scratch are all over the web, this is one example:

http://tinyurl.com/p2j2e2

Though if you wish to stick with linux, you can use OpenOffice, which will read, edit and even save in MS formats, and the best bit is it's entirely free and available to pretty much any OS out there (Windows, Linux and MacOS, possibly others too), and there are many web browsers to choose from, email clients, instant messengers, PDF readers and all sorts of other lovely things for free, which is what makes linux more popular these days, as people are tired of the MS and Apple monopolies on computers...

I'd say give it a go for a few weeks, if you decide not to continue with Linux, then it's easy to revert to Windows, despite what the link above says you can wipe, re-install and update XP within a couple of hours, along with installing device drivers and any software you wish to use...