Getting used to linux again

("straight to the point" version at bottom)
Long version-
I've been the poster child of Microsoft (or whatever the fuck you guys call them now) for... I dunno, 5 years? 14-19 years old give or take. From DOS to Vista.

My current programming job was coding ASP classic on a win2k server with mssql server 2000. Now I'm coding C# for asp.net. So in other words, total ms groupie.

Now, say what you will, I actually try not to be very closed minded, so a couple years ago, then again a year ago, I gave linux a shot... several times, several distros:
-(open)SuSE (32 and 64 bit)
(32) I liked this as far as linux goes, but I really don't like Gnome, so I installed KDE instead. MASSIVE memory leaks occurred, couldn't diagnose, got rid of it.
(64) Only 64 bit linux distro that I got to work stably, but I got a new HDD, and decided not to reinstall when I transferred everything.

-K/X/Ubuntu (32 and 64 bit)
(32) Easy enough to use... Until you try to go beyond the newbie boundries. Software that's not in the repository? Have fun installing three development environments and hunting down libs! I must've broken these distros at least 6 times just trying to install too many things that weren't in the repo.
(64) 64 bit ran so terribly and unstably I just lol'd and reformatted the partition within the hour. Then again I've heard some bad things about my CPU (intel core 2) in regards to compatibility, so I wouldn't be too quick to blame the distro.

-Debian
Didn't support my motherboard at the time

-PCLinuxOS
Probably my favorite one, I actually used this in junction with windows for a few months before getting curious about other distros. Unfortunately it has no 64 bit support.

-DSL
Nice for older computers, hasn't come in handy much.

-Knoppix
As much as it's praised for recovery, I'd have to say I've only been able to make use of this for diagnosing network issues and grabbing files from passworded ntfs directories. Beyond that I've been able to manage my diagnosis's, repairs, and recoveries in windows just fine.

-Fedorah core (64 bit)
Installer froze, I was nowhere near ready messing around with that bag of tricks.

So as a windows power user, and someone who's given the alternative an honest shot, the advantages I've observed are existant but small, I wouldn't go back anytime soon for my own purposes. But, I like to be well rounded and available to help in my tech duties. So I think I'll give it yet another shot, but maybe with a little background, some research, y'know?


Straight to the point:
Windows guy giving Linux (yet) another shot, requesting sources of generic guides or other sources of information for someone looking to get comfortable with some of the non-layman aspects of Linux. Not looking to develop or anything, but I'd like to be able to use, troubleshoot, and maybe even have an occasional moment of "oh hay, I should set this file/print server or old computer in Linux".

#39, you can use DOS today with FreeDOS.  People are still making bootdisks for various purposes, and some flavor of DOS is generally required to make it function.

Since computers are many times more powerful than required to just run a flavor of DOS and a couple of apps, running a GUI for most purposes is well suited for ease of use.  That doesn't mean you should load up some Vista, however.  Vista is a foul and stenchly rotting OS, and I'd rather see people continue to use XP than transfer to Linux, when opposed to the upgrade to Vista.  Microsoft has not only jumped the shark with Vista, but it calmly landed the motorcycle, dismounted, walked over to the shark, and then skullfucked its butthole!  They didn't just jump the shark, they head-ass-raped it!!

DOS is an extreme and I don't expect to see people commonly using it.  However, neither should they go to the other extreme and load the latest resource-hog from Microsoft.  We have a huge installed base of computers, with more being "obsoleted" (i.e. thrown away by conspicuous consumers) every day, and we have a fine selection of OSes to put on them ... from at least 3 Microsoft OSes (98, 2K, XP), to 2 Apple ones (OS9 and OSX), to a large variety of Linux flavors from the mundane to the sublime.  We're literally DROWNING in operating systems!