Can anyone recommend which version fo Linux is best to use as server as I'm attempting to move from Windows 2000 Server? Noting that I am no expert in command line, is there any version of Linux that works akin to Windows e.g setup of users, accounts, directory, security settings, Webmail, Mail, etc with a graphical interface?

Thanks!

Redhat 9 should do the job. Mandrake 9.0 should work for you too.

both distributions don't have tools where I can easily setup email accounts, setup webmail, etc without it installing a thousand other packages I don't need e.g. games, etc which I don't control over despite selecting not to have them installed. Further more what's the easiest way to secure them and I mean really secure as i wish to run it as a live production server?

I would recommend gentoo. Although it is often considered to be beyond a newbie's capability, as a newbie myself, I think it actually the best newbie distro available. You can install exactly what you want to install; the documentation is as good as it gets and the community is the most helpful to newbies that I have ever seen. Also, there are very easy to follow tutorials to do exactly what you want to do in the gentoo forums. Check out www.gentoo.org I don't think you will be disappointed.

Thanks ekj. Does it have a graphical interface I can easily start using immediately? Or are there ones I can download to use? I heard it does not come an installer. Is this true?

"both distributions don't have tools where I can easily setup email accounts, setup webmail, etc without it installing a thousand other packages I don't need e.g. games, etc which I don't control over despite selecting not to have them installed. Further more what's the easiest way to secure them and I mean really secure as i wish to run it as a live production server?"

Honestly, I don't understand why people keep saying you have to install packages you don't want with these distros. Both RH and MDK give you the opportunity to "select individual packages" so you can install exactly what you want and don't. It is incredibly easy to do this. Setting up email accounts and webmail is pretty straight forward if you work with it. NO distro is going to be easy enough to do it flawlessly the first time you try. As far as security goes, you are the one who controls the security of your server, not Redhat or Mandrake or Gentoo for that matter. With RedHat 9, you can make your box "wide open" or completely invulnerable all within the space of about 30 seconds. They give you easy to understand security programs right there in the menu to do this..

Apparently you have not noticed that despite the fact I can "Select individual Packages" as such, there are tonnes that install regardless e.g. CUPS, various Games, etc.

Also now that Red Hat has stopped supporting it's downloadable vrsion, is it still viable to use in regards to it will longer issue patches, etc.

I guess where I am coming from, a Windows User, if Linux would make it a lot more straight forward of it's workings I would move in a heartbeat but since being an administrator and having worked with the Windows environment for the past 10 years, Linux hasn't made it "easier" to move.

"Apparently you have not noticed that despite the fact I can "Select individual Packages" as such, there are tonnes that install regardless e.g. CUPS, various Games, etc."

I have a redhat 9 work station that has no cups and no games. Another solution is to just manually uninstall packages you don't want after installation if you weren't successful at not selecting them before.

"Also now that Red Hat has stopped supporting it's downloadable vrsion, is it still viable to use in regards to it will longer issue patches, etc."

You can always use apt-get rpm to update, after redhat stops support next April. In the future you can switch to enterprise or fedora. Redhat 6-9 is used successfully on thousands and thousands of servers worldwide, and is a proven leader in the server field. I can't see why it wouldn't be good enough to run your server too.

"I guess where I am coming from, a Windows User, if Linux would make it a lot more straight forward of it's workings I would move in a heartbeat but since being an administrator and having worked with the Windows environment for the past 10 years, Linux hasn't made it "easier" to move."

Linux is not going to make it easier for you to move. It is up to you to learn how to use Linux. If you want "easy to use", stay with Windows with less security and less dependability. If you want more security and far greater dependability, take the time to learn Linux. If I can learn it, anyone can.

Good Luck.