I'm neither an administator or a guru, so will be grateful for suggestions. I'm considering a Linux install on an IBM T41 that won't get past blue screens and is not my primary computer. Actually, all I want to do is let my wife have it to play simple games so I can have my primary laptop back. The laptop currently runs XP Professional, but will need to be activated in a few days after a total wipe of the hard drive and install of XP from my primary laptop and I don't wish to deal with Microsoft or pay their activation fees for such simple use. Thus, it only needs to dual boot long enough to migrate to Linux and be sure my wife's favorite games will play on it. However, I'm willing to invest a little bit and curious about Linux.

I've researched some of the Linux distributions like Ubuntu, RedHat, Fedora and others, but have been unable to wade through all the information and get clear answers (at least for my level of expertise).

(1) Is there a distribution that includes partition software, or do I acquire that separately?
(2) Given my simple use for the laptop, is there a distribution that is better than another?

The laptop has 512 MB Ram, is a Pentium and has 111 GB space not in use.

Question 1. Pretty much all distro installers include partitioning tools, and most guide you through it during the installation.

Question 2. Not really. Read the descriptions on Distrowatch, pick one, and install it.

Honestly, the "which distro" question has been asked here a million times and the answer really doesn't change. Find one that sounds like it may fit your needs and install it. If you're looking for a relatively easy to install so-called "newbie friendly" distro, check out Ubuntu, PCLinuxOS, or Mepis. They're all good distros and are fairly easy for a newbie to install.

Pretty much all the distros will enable partitioning at the time of installation. So if you're installing linux on top of an already installed windows that shouldn't be a problem. I'd suggest you try out some live CD's and pick a distro that seems to suit you.

I don't really know your wife well enough to know what her favourite games are so I can't really answer that.
cheers,
jdk

For simplicity of use and easy of installation I would recommend Ubuntu. PC-BSD is also very good and easy to install. Do you have to do a dual boot? I think both of these available in Live versions that will run directly from the CD/DVD player of your computer. You could then ensure that your wife's games will play with changing anything on her computer.

If she finds that she prefers one of the other or any of a variety of Live distros most can then be installed from the very same CD. Be sure that you have burn a copy of anything important like pictures from her computer before you do the install though.

Thanks for the replies. I installed Ubuntu and am happy thus far. After a couple of decades working with Windows, I have much to learn about how to do the same things in Linux, but looking forward to it.

RP722,

I see you've already installed ubuntu. I've been through Red Hat, Fedora, Gentoo, Debian, Ubuntu, CentOS, and Mint.

If you're still looking for ideas I'd recommend taking a look at Mint at the very least.

http://www.linuxmint.com

It is based off of ubuntu. I found it EXTREMELY easy to install. (Put in disc...it boots...double click install on the desktop...then it's more or less like installing a program in Windows.) They have a very active community as well and their forum is a great help!

Shawn