Hardware Detection
 

Ok I've read lots of reviews and documentation on Arch Linux and I'm facinated it just sound great. But, I'm a Linux n00b I have it for only 3 months now and I've just had RPM based distros. And in some review of Arch Linux 0.5 said I would have to know all the kernel modules for my (sound card, Ethernet card, modem, video card, etc.) But it also says: (While hardware detection are not included in the 0.5 ISO, 'hwd' should be in the 0.6 ISO.) So the question is I have a DSL connection (DHCP) and a Geforce 3 TI 200 video card. If I install 0.6 would it auto detect this hardware?
-thanks:scratch:

The "hardware detection" in .6 is true hardware detection only. It only lists the hardware that you have in case you don't know what it is. You will need to learn a little more to load these modules, but it is still easy enough. Once you learn the "arch-way" by editing the modprobe.conf file (kernel 2.6) it's all very simple. The only issue is knowing which module to load for you certain piece of hardware. The hwd program may tell you which modules to load and I believe it even gives you the command line example of how to load the modules manually. Your two pieces of hardware should not require a module to be loaded, but you will need to load the GeForce driver when setting up X. If you are using an internal DSL modem, you may have an issue, but if you have an external modem and router, you should be fine with no modules required (excluding you network card). All I can say is try it. I think you'll be glad you did. Just remember, if you are looking for a standardized Linux distro to learn from, this is not it. It goes about things differently, which is not to say it isn't better however!

And how do I know which modules to load for my geforce. Can I check taht on my current distribution??? and How???
-Thanks

You won't to load a "module" just the X driver. It will either be "geforce" or "nv" in Arch. I think 3D acceleration requires a different driver, but I have yet to find any good reason to mess with Linux 3D acceleration so I can't give much info on that. You should be able to check your current /etc/XF86Config for the current driver Fedora uses. It may or may not be the same however. the "nv" should work fine.

Nvidia have made a 3d driver for their cards. You have to download the installer and it will compile a driver for you. Just be sure to have stopped X while you do it. Be warned, this isn't free software though.
Some linkage for you here. You probably want the IA32 option, if you're using a 32 bit Intel or AMD.