Linux is not Windows, and although there are some similarities, you must realise that there may be a few "new ways of doing things" to learn before you can be comfortable in Linux. Linux is an open-source clone of UNIX, a secure operating system (OS) that predates DOS and Windows and is designed for multiple users. The items in the following list generally apply to any UNIX-based *nix system, such as Linux and the various BSD's. For the purposes of this article, assume that it's all Linux. Here are the 10 things to know: 1. File hierarchy Unlike some other OS's that have a file tree for each drive, the Linux file system is one big tree. At the top you have / (Root) and every folder, file, and drive branches off of this Root. For example, say that you have two hard drives (named a and b ), one floppy drive, and one CD-ROM. Let's say that the first hard drive has two partitions (named a1 and a2 ). In Windows, it would look like this: + hard drive a, p...