Well.... I think I'm finally ready to forfeit Windows XP Pro SP2 on my main computer I use all the time... I've been running FedoraCore3 on my other boxes for quite sometime but I only use those boxes once or twice a week.... My main computer is going to be composed of the following for Linux:

AMD Socket 939 3000+
1GB Corsair XMS Memory
Tyan motherboard (nForce 4)
Asus CD-ROM
Wifi 802.11g card (MadWifi I will install)

and some other items im too lazy to list...

I mainly use my main machine (the one I plan on turning over to Linux) for websurfing, web development (PHP and HTML and CSS and XML), writing office documents, instant messaging, and so on. I have a few questions, but this is my first real question. Below is a list of current windows programs I use and what I plan on running on my main machine with Linux.

Microsoft Word > Open Office
Windows MEdia player 10 > XMMS
Macromedia Dreamweaver MX > NVU
AIM and MSN messenger > GAIM

Does anyone have any comments on better programs than the linux equivalent programs I listed above. I really enjoy macromedia Dreamweaver MX and am hoping NVU to be a good equivalent.

For my mail and browser I use Mozilla Thunderbird and Mozilla Firefox... Is there anyway to transfer my settings that are stored on Windows XP with both of these programs so I can transfer my Firefox saved passwords, bookmarks over to Linux? And mainly im interested in transferring all of my stored emails and settings with Thunderbird over to Linux Thunderbird..... Much help is appreciated on this topic as I have yet to figure out how ot transfer all of my mail and such... I plan on using the Gnome environment but I will have KDE packages also installed if that matters when your considering recommendations.

On LinuxQuestions some people don't recommend SATA hard drives due to drivers and such.... I have the choice between a Hitachi 80GB SATA 7200RPM or Western Digital 80GB IDE 7200 RPM..... Both of which hard drivers are currently in different one of my machines? How much performance difference is notable between IDE and SATA drives in Linux?

Any other comments or suggestions are GREATLY appreciated as I am very nervous about making the move to run Linux on my main machine... since I can still be considered I don't really need to worry about gaming on this comp since I still have a windows computer for that, and if I feel the urge for a quick game, I can always run TuxRacer.. lol Thanks and I hope for some feedback regarding the move from M$ to FC3

Im mainly interested in getting away from Windows because of freee software, Linux 64bit support where M$ only has beta copies of XP out that support 64bit, I always like change, and I want to become more experienced with Linux.

for your wifi card, first make sure it is well supported by linux. (a search on google will do!)

multimedia player: XMMS is for audio only, just like winamp, for videos you should try xine or mplayer (i prefer the first one, but it's a matter of taste i guess..)

dreamweaver: i don't think there's anything like that for linux even though NVU might be a good choice for WYSIWYG, but i suggest you to try also Quanta (for which you need QTlibs installed). btw, does anybody know if dreamweaver works with wine?

mozilla and firefox settings: play around with the folders! first install them on linux, you'll notice two hidden folders in your $HOME: .firefox and .thunderbird; they correspond to the Application Data folder in windows, just copy and paste the right folders in the right places. this is how i did it, but maybe you can also use the import/export functions on the programs. check it out.

SATA/IDE: SATA hd are much faster then IDE, but you'll feel the difference if you have to move lots of datas on your hd. i don't know about SATA compatibillity with linux, if, as you say, they are hardly compatible with linux then you should probably choose the IDE, but again first make a google search and see if that hd is compatible

and if one day i'll want to play with your linux box: choose a nvidia graphic card, as they have a better support for linux, the have a look at www.lokigames.com!

mplayer is probably a better wmp alternative.

Otehr than that, transferring firefox and thunderbird settings should just be a case of moving the right directory over.

Firefox also has a truly great extension called Syncmarks that allows you to sychronize and retrieve your bookmarks from an FTP server.

Dreamweaver MX works with Wine/CrossOver, but the MX 2004 versions do not.

Well, actually, they work fine but the copy protection system doesn't like Linux very much .... we may fix it at some point. If you are desperate for the 2004 edition you could try cracking it but obviously I don't recommend that.