Sorry that this question is based on my complete ignorance but I need to start somewhere! I have always used Windows but quite fancy trying Linux to see what it is like. I have been given two copies of a Fedora 8 Live CD. The first copy includes Gnome Desktop and the second includes KDE Desktop.
How do I make use of these? I do not want to do anything to "upset" the setup of my computer while I try Linux and certainly do not have the technical know how to put it all right if I do mess it up!!
I was under the impression that if I used a live CD I could load it in the CD reader on startup and the system would go there first and set up as if Linux so that I could see what it was like. I thought that anything from the live CD would only exist on the CD or in RAM and that when I turned the computer off it would all go back as it was in Windows next time I started it up. However, I cannot open the CD drive until the computer is switched on - and as soon as it is switched on it starts up Windows before I can do anything else. I am obviously doing it all wrong - maybe "someone up there" -
- is trying to protect me from my own folly and warning me not to mess things up.
Any advice for the technically challenged??