Gentoo is a pretty heavy Linux distribution for someone who would want to migrate.
From distrowatch
Gentoo Linux is a versatile and fast, completely free Linux distribution geared towards developers and network professionals. Unlike other distros, Gentoo Linux has an advanced package management system called Portage.
For a person who use windows for most of it's life (Like me) there are easier distribution to master. There is also the choice of the windows manager that is very important for new Linux user. My first Linux experience was with the very popular Ubuntu distro, which use the gnome window manager. And I had a very frustrating experience with it! So I forgot about it for a few week. Then I tried a different distribution wich was Mandriva one. It used the KDE desktop environment and I found it a lot more user friendly and more powerful and secure than XP.
Security wise I like the open approach. Most security fix come during the development phase (Alpha and Beta testing) and the security flaw are found by the developer and a fix is available for the public within hour of it's discovery. With MS someone outside of MS find a security flaw do some damage, then MS plug the hole. With the Open source system the security flaw are discovered by the team of developer's. Which mean that the security hole is plug even before it can be exploited by hacker.
screen317 you ask if it is possible to bypass root??
Well it's not possible and the developers will never allow it to be bypass. There is just no back door build in to allow an administrator to recover or bypass the root password.
From within the operating system. And since the boot manager (grub or lilo) is protected by the root password it would be impossible to initiate a script in the boot manager without the owner consent.
Well why would someone would like to stop using windows? Maybe just to get the fun back into computing
There is a lot of computer user who are really not computer savvy and that can be easy prey for criminal. And this is why a Linux based OS is a good idea for those user. At least the OS is secure from the start and doesn't need to be continually maintain by the user. I'll give you an example.
I own a very small computer business in a rural area.
The other day one of my costumer (sheep farmer) saw one of my publicity and ask me about my permanent solution for spyware and Virus. I told him that it was pretty radical but if he was willing then he could kiss is malware, spyware, tuppeware and virus problem goodbye. He told me that he was pretty fed up and that it was the third time he needed to had his computer fix. His computer was one years old BTW
(He has three teenager using is computer
) . It was a Emachine if I remember. So I Put is hardrive in my PC, burn is personnal directory and install and preconfigure mandriva free.
I email him a week later just to check if he is OK. And he tell me that is kids are chatting online (Kopete) downloading music (Frostwire) that is youngest daughter is enjoying the game (Gcompris). He is telling me that is dial-up connection as never been so good and that he and his wife are using Open-Office to do there farm management.
Why did this person switch to Linux ? Just for peace of mind.
Could he had taken the time to learn and to teach his kids how to use Windows XP properly ?
No he is a farmer and he is very busy!
That's my two cent.
Edited by Elvis, 26 August 2007 - 08:11 AM.
After that I was really careful about what I did with my computer. You know avoiding suspicious site (pr0n), Gave up on Peer to peer application etc. I was regularly cleaning, scanning my computer for spyware, malware, virus, and IE hijacker. I was basically working for my computer to keep it free of unwanted software. 
