been using linux on and off since 2005 actually, but i had good teachers, well, they helped me set up my first gentoo box, then i started reading, working with it, in 5 months i was managing a linux lab and i've stuck with unix-like OSes since then (in techno speak nix, implying BSD, linux, minix, os x), I can't say that i have a main OS, i run a lot of different distros, and OSes. I run various flavors of linux, generally Gentoo, Ubuntu or BackTrack, but i have done others; SuSe, CentOS, Slackware, RedHat, Fedora, Yellow Dog, some small Linux distros, embedded linux, and others. I use OS X as my main platform for doing graphics and audio work, and i am once again rebuilding my OpenBSD router (its running on dual ultra spark III machine with 768 megs of ram and a quad interface nic on top of that, isa naas 1u).
I cant see why anyone would want to build a cluster on windows, and its not that i am against windows, its bang for the buck thing, performance, cost and stability, 3 things that Linux excels in, i will just say this, most clusters and supercomputers today run Linux.
It's not as hard as it may seem. If you want an advise for starting up, take a system that you are no longer using, and throw ubuntu on it, its easier to install then windows, and there is no need of command line managing it. Also ubuntu has a great community, and a lot of "howto"s and beginner guides are available. Just one thing, you have to do your own research to find how to do things, its an integral part of working with linux, the solution is out there, you just need to find the answers....
other then that, ask, there are a couple of people here i know that know linux fairly well, and we will help. Use Ubuntu for a bit, once you feel acquainted with the interface, try getting to know it better, learn some command line, eventually, anyone can be a pro
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Microsoft, the leader in using innovative tactics to promote irksome experience, coupled with antiquated technology that's held together by a pyramid of makeshift afterthoughts.
Apple, the leader in using irksome tactics to promote innovative experience, coupled with an antiquated core that's enhanced by state-of-the-art afterthoughts.
Linux, the leader in not using any tactics to promote user-defined experience, coupled with state-of-the-art core enhanced by innovative afterthoughts.
