what range of software can you run on Linux ?
open office is supposed to be excellent. i have it but don't use it much as i'm mostly an artist, and without a printer (at the moment), i have no real reason for a word processor. but i'm sure i will use it someday.
there is an WinAmp type program which plays mp3's and audio files. xmm something. there is a cd player. forget the name. it just comes with the distro.
there are also programs which let you burn cd's.
if you have an external modem you can log on immediately and there are several browsers to pick from. and Opera comes in a linux version.
and, of course, there is GIMP. an excellent image processor. better in certain ways than Photoshop (unless you have to do alot of complex color printing). for animations i would still use IFX or AfterEffects. but GIMP is wonderful.
and there are games galore for those of you who play games. i don't much, but they are there.
and there are cool programs like kstars. it's an astronomy program like distant suns. fun stuff.
there are really alot of programs for linux. alot come with whatever you get, and then there are alot available from the web.
it's not like amiga which is the most user friendly OS out there - i'm still mucking about with fonts on my linux - but it is stable and fun.