KNOPPIX Linux Live
Dale Phillips hooked me up with KNOPPIX, a Linux operating system that is completely resident on a CD. I'm using it on a couple of computers where the hard-drive has gone bad. It works great if you do all of your work online -- although I think it will function with a USB thumb-drive if you want to save documents. There are over 900 software programs, including OpenOffice, on the CD. And it is a free download.

I tried Live Ubutu, Feather Linux, and Puppy Linux, all similar CD bootable Linux systems, but have found KNOPPIX to be the most satisfying and functional at this point.

The good news is that you no longer have to be a total geek to use Linux.