Hello, [insert variations of "I'm a newb plz don't flame msg]. I bought a laptop a while ago, its a hp pavilion ze4400, with AMD Athlon XP-M 2200+. Didn't use it much so I thought I'd install a unix based OS on it to play around but it always hangs when I install, it happened with redhat 8, 9, and freebsd. Theres a sticker on it saying: Designed for MS Win XP. My question: Am I destined to use winxp for the rest of my life? If not then what can I do to escape this terrible fate? Thanks in advance.

you're better off asking in the linux forum but you can try Knoppix - its a linux distro that runs off the CD - just put it in the CDRom, reboot and it should boot. Its a debian distro so its pretty user friendly but then again i use slack (if you dont get - never mind) and when you feel comfortable with it - install it to HDD

To tell the truth, I've had problems loading some flavors of linux on some systems, while others load with no problems. But the biggest headaches have been with laptops, with their proprietary hardware. Try different versions, and you may find one that works. Personally, if you're just starting to experiment, I'd try a variety that "feels" close to what you already know, like Lycoris, or Lindows. http://www.lycoris.com