Hi everyone.
I haven't got allot of spare time to dig into Linux too much at the moment but would like to switch from windows painlessly once for good.
I don't need too much from Linux, a part some basic home use, like web browsing +email,jpg for photos, some very occasional film watching when my dvd pack up + use of the open office for letter etc.I did build my pc about 2 years a go and i will give you some basic information about it.

motherboard is a ASUS K8N-E DELUX
VIDEO CARD:V9520 SERIES GEFORCE FX 5200
AMD ATHLON 64 PROCESSOR 3000+
EPSON PRINTER/SCANNER STYLUS CX5200
INTERNET (THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR ME)IS WITH TALKTALK VIA EXTERNAL ETHERNET/USB MODEM:SMARTax MT882
2*HARD DRIVE MAXTOR 80GIG AND WDC 40GIG

My question is which is the most user friendly distro(for beginners) with easy to set up and very important will work with my modem on the talktalk broadband line?I have tried SUSE 9(i think) and could not access the internet(it was with bt then nearly 2 years ago). That put me off .
Now with your help would like to get rid of microsoft rip off for ever! and get my kids brought up on Linux.
Thanks for any suggestions and please don't be put off with my bad spelling ,English is not my first language.

I would recommend you to download ubuntu. It is pretty easy to setup, very friendly, great community and rock solid.

http://www.ubuntu.com/

Not only that, but Ubuntu is a Live CD, meaning you can run the OS entirely from the CD without touching your HD. This is good for testing your hardware before installing the distribution. If you decide to install, clicking on the installer in Ubuntu will get it installed for you in 6 basic steps.

Since you mentioned that you have kids, you may even take a look into Edubuntu.

http://edubuntu.org/

it is basically the same thing as Ubuntu, but it is aimed at classroom use. I am going to try it next for my son, who is getting really into computers.

Just like Ubuntu, edubuntu also runs completely off the CD-rom and can be just as easily installed.

Indeed, there are a lot of other distributions that you may want to try, but with the community Ubuntu has, how easy it is to install, use and update you can't really go wrong with it when starting with Linux, or even when you are a power-user

Regards!

I'd agree with Ubuntu. the new release is 7.10 and is very friendly and easy to set up.

You might want to consider the 32-bit version though rather than the 64-bit version as there are more packages available and you won't have to work to get some things set up as you tend to with the 64-bit version.

Ubuntu seems to be the distro-of-choice for beginners, but I'd like to point you to Mandriva also. The new (2008) version has been very well received, and Mandriva/Mandrake always had a good reputation based on the ease of installation. It's strength is in it's good graphical installer and a very good disk partition program (with a pretty good set of defaults for the fearful, too). It's the one I started with, and it simply did a good job recognizing the hardware (mine is very similar to yours) and providing the drivers.

The "live" (Mandriva-One) version can be downloaded and put on 1-CD. It takes from between 10 to 30 minutes to install, depending on your system.

From there it's one step to use a web based "service" called easy-urpmi to get full access to all the software you can imagine. Many here can tell you about that, but it's for later.

Oh yeah - Like GTB said, you really want the 32 bit versions, even though you have a 64 bit machine. The stuff works fine, but some things, like oft-used plugins for browsers, don't exist in the 64 bit form yet.

Yeah thats you first lesson siva linux people alway think their distribution is the best.

j/k

I my self use fedora core but I would say ubuntu is not a bad choice at all.

NICE ONE
WILL THEY ALL WORK WITH MY BROADBAND CONNECTION WITHOUT DAYS OF WORRY-IS IT GOING TO WORK OR NOT? AND BITING MY NAILS TO BLOOD?

Are you talking about a wireless connection or wired Ethernet. A wired Ethernet will almost certainly work. For wireless, you'll have to do some research to determine your wireless NIC type and chip set. Then you can check to see if there is a Linux driver for it.

If you already have Windows on this machine, you can set it up to dual boot into either Linux or Windows.

Best approach is to install a Linux distribution and start playing with it, working out any problems. If things get screwed up too badly, you can always re-install.

Best way to find out is to download the LiveCD and run it. A LiveCD can be run without installing. It will run a bit slow but is a good way to see if you will have hardware issues. Ubuntu comes as an installable LiveCD so start with that. Download it, burn it, and boot it to see if you get connectivity.

I have tried many Distro's and still do from time to time. I would suggest a live CD. That way you can see if it works with your system and if you like the way it looks and feels. I myself use PCLinuxOS, I find it easy to use. It also comes in a live version. I do about the same thing you do, go online, email, scanning, photo's and music. I work on computers all day and just want to have some fun with mine at home. There are so many to pick from, try a few before you settle.

Thanks chaps.im going to download the Ubuntu for start and have a bash at it.
how do I know which is the 32 version?

At work we support SuSE and RedHat, some Debian servers. Most of us were using Kubunto for our personal laptops, which is a very good and user friendly distro, and it just seems to work. Also the support is very good. You may several flavors of the Ubunto distro. Ubunto is based off of gnome and Kubunto is the KDE version. If you are coming from Windows then you might find the KDE desktop more familiar. Now before I mentioned "were using Kubunto"...one of the guys downloaded and installed PCLinux2007 and after we spent a little while with it, we all switched. PCLinux2007 has a live version and can be installed off the same cd in 15 to 20 min. Very clean distro, all the control center is extremely easy to use. I would suggest downloading the live CD for Ubunto, Kubunto, and PCLinux2007 and try all three. Everyone likes a different distro for a reason. Just have fun!

download the one that is called either x86 or i386