If you're looking to buy an affordable desktop system that comes with Linux and a whole bunch of key free and open-source applications already installed, take a look at the new line of Koobox computers. Koobox computers are a joint offering from Mirus Personal Computers and Linspire. According to the Web site, Kooboxes are "only sold pre-installed, tested and certified with Linspire Linux".

So far, three Koobox systems are available: Essential Koobox, Multimedia Koobox and Performance Koobox. For $299 US, the Essential Koobox offers an AMD Sempron 2800+ processor; 256MB of DDRAM; a 40GB hard drive; CDRW 48x24x48; onboard network, video and sound; five USB ports; an Internet keyboard; an optical mouse; a u-ATX black tower case with a 300W power supply; 90 days limited parts and labor warranty; the Linspire OS; virus protection and Web filtering software; and OpenOffice.org. It also comes with a one-year subscription to CNR, so you can access more than 2,000 free applications. Monitors are available for purchase separately. That's a lot of stuff for $300.

http://www.koobox.com/