Linux is an alternative operating system to Microsoft Windows and, although it’s completely free to use, it can be complicated to set up.

Attempt to install Linux alongside an existing Windows installation and you run the risk of losing programs, settings and important data – scary stuff.

A simpler and safer way to test-drive Linux is by using a program called VirtualBox. This sets up a ‘virtual’ PC that looks and behaves like a completely separate computer, but appears as a normal window in Windows. Everything that happens in this virtual PC window is ring-fenced, so it cannot damage the real computer. As a result, you can install Linux (or anything else) without worrying about your PC or data.

In the Workshops section of Computeractive issue 259, we explain how to download, install and use both VirtualBox and Ubuntu Linux. So, refer to the magazine and then follow each of these two links in turn:

* Click here to be transferred to the VirtualBox software developer's download page

* Click here to be transferred to the Ubuntu Linux software developer's download page