KDE-Forum.org

Hi, I'm extremely new to Linux! Going to a programming school, where we installed the Knoppix distro on a couple of machines, and I loved the feel of it (and hated Windows XP from before), and so I installed it (Knoppix) at home. It's working smoothly, but I have a few questions:

1. Do I need any sort of firewall or such for my install? I have a router which I haven't configured yet, it's pretty much in its default state.

2.
a) Am I correct in assuming that Linux is faster at configuring itself to connect to the internet, than Windows?
b) My XP partition/install (yes, I still have it, I need my games!) can't connect to the internet, and I'm thinking it might be because of the router, but Linux DOES work. Any thoughts?

3. Really unrelated to internet connectivity:
How I do view info about my install, such as version and so on?

Thanks!
Hope I'm not too much of a bother.

I have another question, too:

I can't seem to get my KPackage Manager to work quite right. I click Special -> APT: Debian -> Update, but it only downloads until 29%, and then goes no further. Worked like a charm in school.