I found a great article on DesktopLinux.com about a web site where you can try Linux online through your web browser.

If you are using Windows, you can go to this page and follow the instructions. It involves downloading an .exe file so if you want to skip that part you can also do it through a Java applet. If you are using Mac or Linux, or are on Windows and want to use the Java applet method, you can go to FAQ page and follow the instructions there for either Linux or Mac. Choose the option that says "Java applet".

(Note: Most people will already have Java support but if you don't have it you can get it at Java.com.)

It may take a minute or two for Linux to load once you start the Java applet, and it will run quite a bit slower than it would if you had it installed on your computer. It is an interesting demo though and worth checking out if you want to try Linux. It is a regular desktop, similar to the one you might find on Windows, with web browsers, office software, email clients, instant messengers, and much more. The desktop is in German on this demo, but you can still browse through the menus and try the software even if you don't speak German.

Linux Demo Screenshots

Here are some screenshots of the Linux test drive, running on a web browser in Windows XP.

This is the KDE desktop loading:

This is what the desktop looks like after it has loaded:

Here is the KDE menu showing some applications:

This is the OpenOffice word processor:

Here is Firefox running on Linux, running of Firefox on Windows XP:

If you are interested in more screenshots of Linux, check out the screenshots page.