Is this program hard for a newbie to use.Can you use windows messenger with it?

Hey Murphy:
Linux is an operating system. Takes some getting used to.
Do some reading here at http://www.ubuntu.com - my recommendation for Linux.

Hi Murphy and Welcome at GSFs

Iam sorry you can't mix Windows programs with any Linux based operating system such an easy way. But you haven't to do so cause each Linux distribution comes along with a messenger program.

To get a first overview and an impression about Linux and related OSes, have a look at Toadbee's recommendation about Ubuntu.

Some more distributions are:

Novell-Suse: http://www.novell.com/home/index.html
Red Hat: http://www.redhat.com/ and there
Fedora: http://www.fedoraproject.org/
Mandriva former known as Mandrake: http://www.mandriva.com

This list is not an exhausive one. There are lot more Linux distributions aviable.

Greetz
B. Udo

Thanks folks,appreciate your input.