Wireless networking, laptops and linux...
 

Let me start out by saying that I'm not a complete n00b, been around linux a few times(never had much use for it, until now). Never with a laptop(IBM 850mhz, 386mb ram). I'm currently running XP and have several questions.

I really need the stability of Linux with usability of Windows. I'm currently using an unreleased wireless card with an Atmel chipset, so there are no Linux drivers available from the manufacturer. Would it work at all?

Would I be able to import my Outlook mailbox into Mandrake or Redhat? How about Word and Excel documents?

Current print server is running XP, will I be able to pring to it?

If everything goes right, the whole office will be upgraded to linux due to instability, memory leaks and constant problems associated with Windows.

First off, the wireless card. It very well may work, but the only real way to tell is to try (or find someone with the exact same card). GLP'd drivers usually come out pretty quick, especially for popular hardware, but I don't know about your specific situation.

Word and excel Docs should be about 95% compatible with OpenOffice, which ships with most modern distros. I say 95% compatible becuase there are some small formatting issues (rare) and of course if your Word or excel doc includes any macros, I don't believe that those carry over. Personally I have never had a problem with opening a Word doc in openoffice, but I have heard of some small compatibility issues. Printing should be a sinch, provided that you can get the wireless card working.

Importing your mailbox.... hmmm.... I think that ximian does have some native ability to import adressbook/inbox stuff... but I have never tried it so I am not sure.

slight