SuSE is what I would recomend. I have a dual booting laptop, Windows XP Pro and SUSE and it runs really well. During the install phase I was able to configure/resize my NTFS partition and install SuSE w/ no isssues. Also it mounts your windows drive as /windows/C so you can read items saved there. Was really nice to use, nice to install and easy to keep up to date.

Well, those are all good advice, however, my biggest problem is, i'm in love with this game so much that if i do switch to linux in it's glorious entirety, i need to be able to run a single windows program. Any thoughts there?

SuSE sounds like an option, does it boot from CD?

SuSE has a trial version that boots from CD.

However, if Everquest is all you run in Windoze XPee, then be aware that you can run it with Transgaming's WineX/Cedega. Provided your laptop's video chipset is supported, it should run just fine.

http://www.transgaming.com

http://transgaming.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=40

Some Dell laptops (like mine) use older ATI Radeon mobility chipsets and those might have problems. If your Dell has an nVidia chipset, then you'll likely be in luck.

Are there any programs like that i can get for free? I'm only 17 and can't subscribe through donation.....

I'd also recommend Slackware 10.0. I've tried Suse, Mandrake, Debian (woody and Sarge) and have found Slackware the best for my Asus A7V8X-X mb. Couldn't get the sound to work with Debian and Suse's YAST package installer can be a nightmare. The one good thing about Suse is that if you start an install with it it will resize your Windoze partition on the hard drive. Then just do a Slackware install and use cfdisk to setup your partitions. I've got Windoze 2000 Pro and Slackware both running on my system. I just let lilo handle the dual boot stuff and placed it in the MBR. Everything works great and there were no problems getting LimeWire to work as Java is already prinstalled and you don't have to mess with dependency issues. Linux does have a learning curve though so don't give up. It just takes a little time.

They have a free CVS version:
http://sourceforge.net/cvs/?group_id=17631

ok, i have SuSE running from CD... i think on my laptop, did it install or am i just running from CD......

My pc is set to boot from CD first in the boot order, i burned the .iso of SuSE to the CD. it boots up, i need a 3rd party partitioning software, and then basic instructions on how to install SuSE and dual boot my system. thx

how about you actually read the README?
thx

As the readme can tell you :
no, you didn't install it.(however, you can create a /home dir)
Try it's FTP installation if you like it(you do need to know some stuff about your hardware for this).
http://www.suse.com/en/private/download/ftp/index.html

seems suse have 404'd half their site today D:

Link was outdated, try it now.

At least suse made a positive change to their site (changed /us/ to /en/ ) although they should have set up a redirect :\

well "ror" believe it or not, my copy of SuSE didn't have a readme file attached, just the .iso and all the boot files and system files, etc. so, lets try taking our "lets not be an ass" pill ok?