Tons. Linux boxes tend to never crash, and vary rarely need a reboot. Also, there are many free software packages available. for more general linux knowledge check out http://www.linux.org.

Well, Corel provides a nice desktop for those who like the look and feel of the big OS from Redmond, while still providing all of the power of the Debian distribution(and is 100% compatible). Debian is the largest and most configurable of all the distributions I have ever tried. If you want to know more about debian, check http://www.debian.org

yes, in fact it is the default for Corel Linux, and even includes a nice graphical boot loader

Yes and no. check out www.winehq.com. basically, if it is a program that it can emulate, such as ultrahle, it might even run faster in linux than in windows (ultrahle in fact does). For more information about running games in linux check www.linuxgames.com . I don't know where to point anyone for non game programs, except the wine site itself. If anyone knows of another place to find what works in wine and how, please mail me the link. note, don't forget to check the howto at the ldp

You can play mp3 files in a program that is almost identical to winamp(even uses skins), you can install realplayer 5.0 in order to view thier files, there are many others (midi, wav), but I think that asf is a microsoft proprietary protocal. Ask politely that your favorite web pages don't use it, because this is how things like mp3 could disappear.

If you use netscape navigator, the first time you go to a flash site, it will prompt you if you want to install the plugin. Follow the instructions this leads you too, and you'll be all set. Oh yea, I didn't say this directly : yes, shockwave flash has been ported to linux.

Tons. both x-windows-based and text-based.

sure is. Netscape 4.7 (newest version) plus you can get many others such as mozilla and oracle. Also, there is a text based browser lynx.

Yes, Macaffee Virus scan has a linux version. As far as I know, however, its next to imposible to write a virus for linux, and nobody has. Also, keep in mind that a lot of people writing viruses are doing to make microsoft look bad. I might have been a little misleading, viri exist, but are harmeless provided that you don't log in as root. It is a bad idea to ever log in as root. SU, Super, and sudo are around so you don't need to ever log in as root.

yep, there is adobe acrobat reader. In fact, using corel install, you can get a copy. It will download and install it for you. Also, Aladin Ghostscript and Ghost view are available.

You can install any linux software that is compatable with your libraries. There is no such thing as a distribution only software. Also, Corel comes with apt to install debian packages and rpm to install rpms(although debian packages are suggested.)

The download version does not come with Wordperfect, but you can download it from corel separately. The two commercially available versions both come with Wordperfect.

Nope. it just means that you will have to break linux up into 2GB partitions.

Note, this is not exactly true. In fact, you can have larger partitions, but you cannont have a file larger than 2GB, so if you make your partitions 2GB in size, then you don't have to worry about this.