Converting My Business to Linux, Part 1

Call it frugality.  Call it insanity.  Call it what you will, but I'm converting my computers that I use for my consulting business to Linux.  That's right, I'm a Microsoft Certified computer consultant whose going to switch to Linux.  Actually, I'll go one step further: I'm going to try to switch completely to Free Software. This means:

1. I will install and use Ubuntu Linux as my operating system.
2. I will use OpenOffice.org as my office suite.
3. I will use Evolution for email, calendars, and contact management.
4. I will try to find and use a Free Software alternative to QuickBooks to manage my business accounts.
5. I will try to find and use Free Software alternatives to Adobe Creative Suite.
6. I will try to find and use a Free Software alternative to Virtual PC, so I can install Windows 7 and Server 2008 into virtual machines for my Microsoft training.

I'm pretty darn goods with computers, but this will be a daunting, quite possibly annoying, and maybe even futile task even for me.  So I invite you to come along and gawk at the train wreck I'm about to embark upon...

Proceed to Converting My Business to Linux, Part 2: Installation.