Wasn't entirely sure wether to post this in the hardware section or here. Opted for here to reduce the risk of wrong section flames

Anyway, I'm going to be building a new system and ideally I want to have a Conroe E6600+ but I'm worried about there being no support for it.

Basicaly I've used Linux before although not much, then switched back to Windows. I'm watching to make the switch again (fully) but I don't want to buy a system and there to be no drivers etc for it for the next few months.

So finally getting to the point the question is, if I was to buy a Conroe system, would it work straight away from a Slackware disc (doubtfull I know), or would I need to redownload the Kernal? I'm guessing it's the second option, but would the operating system even boot with brand new unrecognised hardware?

Well, the processor is supported atleast on the newer kernels. I recall seeing the exact Conroe architecture in the newer kernels. You should check if the other hardware is supported, though. Mainly something like wireless adapters.

Slackware won't support it out-of-box I think but quick recompile will solve the issue, just make sure you use 2.6 series of kernels.

The processor is no problem. It's 586 compatable, which is the minimum requirement for running Windows XP Home out-of-box. It should be obvious why Intel would make processors compatable with Windows XP Home, I hope.

The real question is whether the motherboard and other components are supported. Unlike the processor, it's possible to implement all sorts of strange on-board video/sound/ethernet/firewire/USB/etc...so long as the motherboard ships with a driver CD. Those drivers won't typically be for Linux, of course, but rather for Windows XP (and, on rare occasions, there will also be drivers for older versions of Windows which actually work).

Cheers guys, I think I'll have to purchase myself one after all.

For anyone else whose interested in this, I've just come across a bit more information. When you install Linux for the first time no matter what distro, it will recognise the processor (as said) but in some cases it will only recognise one core and some of the cache. You'll need to recompile the kernal with SMP enabled to make use of both cores(sometimes its already done by default).