I have 2 Computers - First one P4 with 2 hard drives in a Raid config, this is dedicated to running music software, I use an M-audio 2496 sound card but everything else is pretty standard. 2nd one is P2 350Mhz communal piece of junk.

I want to get into linux, so have been surfing the web for 'basic' background info, however, with so many different distros I'm a bit baffled, so here are my querries, hopefully someone can sympathise and help me choose the best distro for me.

I would like to switch the old P2 to a linux os that just simply does run of the mill stuff like surf the net, type documents, play CDs etc, but in such a simple way that my folks can use it when I'm not in. Preferably one which installs itself straight from the CD. Is this realistic?

With my P4 I'm prepared to be a bit more daring I need to keep windows in order to run my music software, so I would need to have a dual boot thing. I have read (don't ask me where) that installing linux on a hard drives configured in raid serial ata, is tricky...

Any advice would be greatly recieved

first of all, i think Fedora Core will do beautifully for the P4, with the third release (Core 3 - Heidelberg) having been optimised for the Pentium 4 platform to some extent (atleast thats what is written in the release notes that show up during install) . for my part, i have just got a notebook and am running Core 2 on it (im using a Centrino and so thought i'd be better off with core 2 there).

i have tried RAID with my friend's ATA drives, and found it to be quite easy to set up during install itself. however, i have not experienced SATA drives. but i think SATA should work just fine anyway. the install process is very intuitive.

However, for the other pc i would suggest a smaller and less demanding distro (core 2 requires a 400mhz processor for the x window system. i.e. gui). the fact is that i havent seen distros that install themselves.Knoppix, however, runs by CD (no install) and does play music and edit text. if you are really serious, you should get something better. maybe you should go for Ubuntu ( one disc only), which is debian.

in any case, tell me what you finally choose for the 350mhz, and how it worked. because im looking for something to set up on my old pentium 200mhz lying at home when i get back.

about the soundcard, try www.opensound.com (they provide 3rd party linux drivers for M Audio)

Yeah, I know how it feels with the plethora of distros. What worked for me was to go to the local news store and check out the computer mags. When one came with linux on the cover CD's, I bought it. That's how I got my RedHat 8 for my first distro. I then got Mandrake 10 (I admit I was suspicious of Mandrake at the start, but I had heard of RH) I run Mandrake now. I like it alot, and think it's pretty idiot (ahem, meant in the nicest way) friendly. The magazine editors are pretty smart in their choice. Let them choose for you!

titanium_geek

EDIT:
Hello and welcome to LQ! you will find a great community of enthusiasts here.

arjun_sh, great job at being helpful after only 5 posts! keep it up, LQ is a better place because of people like you.