I used to use Linux, but now I'm on FreeBSD.
But, here are some screenshots anyway (my Desktop Environment is WindowMaker [for all you Steve Jobs fanatics, he created WindowMaker]) - I love it, it's very light, and still has multiple workspaces, a dock, it is VERY configurable, etc.:
RIGHT CLICK > VIEW IMAGE/OPEN IMAGE should view it in a larger format.
1.) I use Opera by the way, it is VERY fast and is definitely underrated (at least for me). I would use FireFox, but I ran into some Library problems.
2.) Not much, just Opera. This is about a 3-day-old install by the way. And, I've only been using WindowMaker for 1 day (was total CLI [Command-Line-Interface] before that).