Hey before this thread I'd never heard of either. I guess I'm alittle confused.

Ok then.... XFCE / LXDE, I'm on board. What do I do? What should I expect?

Go to http://distrowatch.com and pick a distro to try first. Go to its website, download and burn a CD, and install.
--To spend a bit of time learning your way around Linux
--To try at least 2 other distros before settling on what you like the best.
--To discover how superior Linux is
--to discover that you really DID want a bit more RAM

(At least two of those four statements are true)

Ok...

What's a distro again? Short for software distribution or something?

Here's the XFCE download page....
http://www.xfce.org/download/

And here's the "distro" download page...
http://www.xfce.org/download/distros

I'm not exactly sure about my options on that distro page.
Alot of choices but I'm not sure what's best for me.

After I do this, is it going to be a pain to get something like Firefox or Google Chrome working under this new OS?

Sorry about all the newb questions, but I'm still trying to get my head around all this.

I would definitely recommend Xubuntu. I'm in that same age range and it's unbelievably easy to use. It's basically Ubuntu, but with Xfce (instead of Gnome) and some lighter, faster apps. It runs flawlessly on my pathetic, ancient computer that can't even run Ubuntu. It's just as stable as Ubuntu (super stable.)

It's one download, and installs all at once. It asks you a few things before the install starts, then you can leave it alone for maybe twenty minutes, and it's ready to roll.

Internet should work out of the box, but if your adapter thing needs a proprietary driver then it won't work until you tell the popup to install it. But for flash, you'll have to download it from adobe.com (just like most other linux's.) E-Mail works just fine (at least for me.)

Trust me when I say that all the things I didn't like about Ubuntu (Tried it on my other computer) are fixed for Xubuntu.

P.S. I haven't tried the 10.04 version that just came out a few days ago yet, but I'm planning to. The 9.10 version is definitely pure awesomeness.

Awesome.

I think I will try it.

I'm clueless about how to create the install CD. Some clear step by step directions there would be great.

You guys really are awesome.
This is the best help forum I've ever been to.

Linux is just a kernel, the part that manages resources. It's utterly useless on it's own. A distro is the Linux kernel + stuff you need for a productive system.

A window manager is the program that draws the frames around the windows and lets you manipulate them. Without a window manager, the windows don'tt have the frames on them and you would not be able to move or resize them.

A desktop environment is a window manager, a set of integrated applications, and a set of desktop utilities (like taskbars, etc) ann integrated together.

^
Ok, so wait...

Is Xubutu all that rolled into one? Or just part of the equation?

Xubuntu is a complete Linux-based OS, including the Xfce desktop environment and many basic applications for productivity, internet, games, etc.

So yes, it's all rolled into one. All you'd need to do is download an ISO image, burn it with a program that will burn CD images to a real CD, such as ImgBurn. (Do not just use Windows Explorer and drag the file into the CD drive's folder window; it won't work.)

After that, it should be pretty straightforward. Once you boot from the disc and have a working desktop up and running, there should be an icon that runs the installer, and from there you can just follow the installer instructions.

We seem to be forgetting the specification of the computer that Parallaxis has! The minimum requirements for Xubuntu are a 500MHz processor and 192MB of memory: his computer would be just capable of running it.

I would suggest Absolute, Puppy, or SliTaz. All will run happily on a computer much smaller and slower than 200MHz/256MB. Have a look at the reviews section of this site - they are listed under "other distros".

As for teenagers using Linux, in many countries (e.g. South Africa) it's used in schools.

Please see the OP's new thread on the actual installation of Xubuntu. We can let this thread out to pasture.....

Arch is way faster than any distro I ever tried, but installing it is a very serious challenge that requires a lot of Linux command-line knowledge.

^
Ok... well I guess that's not for me then.

Window managers include all the *boxes, Window Maker, Rat Poison, Ice WM, and some others I can't remember.

another O/S designed for "lite" machines,
ie: lighter than this OPs thing - is:

anti-X

http://www.mepis.org/node/14364

http://antix.mepis.org/index.php/Main_Page
for the ISO file - where it says downloads @ the bottom.

also as this OPs thing has a HUGE 256mb ram,
that's double what is needed for this O/S release !!.
& a HUGE 30Gb hdd !!

( think small, guy's, this thing can still FLY)

It is not THAT difficult---The OP's constraints make it an option and he has already demonstrated the committment.

Yes, Arch requires some time in a terminal, but they also have good documentation and instructions.