For Beginners ?!? I have a half intention of trying Linux out again (i had a bad experience with Mandrake 8.0 :) ). Since i'm a absolute beginner, i would like know if there is a highlty compatible version which would allow me to use the most basic functions (play music, brows the internet) right off the start, in order for me to start using the OS as i learn about it (the other way around is simply not functional :) ). My current OS is Win2000 (i suppose i can install Linux on a different partition without messing around with my current set up) and this is my current hardware : Athlon XP 1800+ Corsair 512mb DDR 2100 Non-ECC ABKR7A-RAID Motherboard ( I have a single hard drive for the moment) Soundblater Auidigy Platinum Ex ATI 'All in Wonder' Readon 8500 64mb Plextor 40x/12x/40x Sony DVD USB Mouse and Keyboard (from microsoft, arrg) And a terrible floppy disk which wasn't reconized by my previous Linux installation, somehow. Ho, i also have a 512k DLS modem, with the relative sucky Network adapter my provider send to me.

Well, I'm going to recommend the ol' standbies, Lycoris, Redhat and Mandrake. Lycoris, although not too common, is quite easy to install and has most of the features a user would ever need but your choice of apps is limited during install. Its goal is to be a XP lookalike/killer, and its close. Whichever distro you use, you will need to download and install the Radeon 8500 drivers from ATI. This is must for decent video performance, especially 3D accelerated OpenGL. It is fairly easy to install. You may also want to try out knoppix. Its a CD based distro which means you wont have to fiddle around repartitioning your drive. Just boot the computer with the CD and your good to go. Its loaded with just about anything you would ever want. Plus it automatically mounts all your fat/ntfs drives so you have access to your data.

I tried RH 7.3 and spend a week trying to get it configured with my hardware. I had Mandrake 9.0 running in less than an hour. My $.02 and you can keep the change. :)

My recommendation: Find a distro you like the sound of, and before you buy/download it, check its hardware compatabiliy list (HCL)

my recommendation would be to try the Knoppix "live CD" the whole O.S. runs from C.D. so it gives you a chance to try out linux and see if your hardware is compatible , and the good thing is you dont even need a hard disk to use it,you can surf web everything with it ,just like normal distro.Just look up Knoppix in google,cant remember address off-hand!!!!

Face it, SGzr, nothing is "basic" in Linux. It's all hard and gets harder fast. Don't let the Linux-moonies fool you. While there are likely good ( and compelling ) reasons for you to start using *nix, think 2-years(!!) till elementary competence is achieved. For quick usability on the GUI desktop, any *nix is low-beta maleware compared to the slick WinX stuff. YMMV