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Personally, I think one of the coolest things about Linux distributions is the concept of a “live CD”. Basically, a live CD is a complete, functional Linux distribution on a CD-ROM. The great thing about Live CDs is that they don’t install anything on your machine, they work solely from the CD and your computers RAM, making them a near-painless way to see what all the hubbub is about.

Live CDs are also an excellent way to see what kind of hardware “gotchas” you may experience if you decide to install Linux on a machine. I know that I would never consider installing Linux on a laptop without a hefty stack of Live CDs next to me. I try them all, usually, and go with the one that gets me the closest to everything working right out of the box.

If you would like to check out a Live CD or twenty, FrozenTech maintains a comprehensive list of Live CDs for you to download.