Ive been using windows for like along time...but I wanted to build my own computer and as I was looking for the last parts, I had to get a OS. Now heres where this got me,windows OS are like 140+$! Thats insane I mean windows isnt that great...but I did see Linux for around 40$.

But theres so many different os for linux and i dont know which to choose or what to buy..so is there any distros that are,fast on boot timing, easy to use, friendly to gamers, and easy to change stuff(colors,opitions)...Oh I like to lan also. I mean I dont want to buy the Windows ME of Linux you know?

And I understand that I have to buy certain hardware or it wont recondnise it? any reply would be gratful thanks =) sry for mispelling xD

edit: On im going to get a amd 64 cpu.. if thats needed to know..

It really is up to you. Most linux distributions support a lot of mainstream hardware(except winmodems). As for ease of use, SuSe and Mandriva are the one's I'd recommend. Most versions of linux can be downloaded for free(assuming you have high-speed internet), but I'm not sure about Mandriva.

Gaming is another issue, linux doesn't have very good game support. There is something called wine, which essentially works like a windows environment, but theres no guarantee it will work.

check out www.distrowatch.com to find out more about the versions of linux out there.

Hope this helps

before you pick you might want to check out cedega and wine.
these are two programs that allow you to run some windows programs including games.
if there are specific games you want to play you should research if they are supported or known to play using those tools. otherwise your chances of playing those games on linux are very slim.

after that you will get a list of 10 or so distros you should try, most are available to download for free. so you should probably download them first, when you find the one you want, then paying for the box or donating to the distro would be nice.

so i will start your list of ones to try:
slackware (my favorite)
fedora (probably the easiest to start with, not the most powerful)

have fun

Im very curious about these free distros, I was reading about SuSE and some old redhat or something..

I just play counterstrike most of the time, Im on windows professional at the moment, how would I try these new distros without deleting anything on my new computer. I do have dsl so I guess thats high speed, thanks for the distroswatch.com
I found that very helpful.

I guess Ill read so more about linux, I like how the fact it is free with freeware thats amazing in my book. And i was going to pay what 100+ for windows..pfft someone should of told me about linux along time ago.

slackware can be downloaded
so can fedora, never used any others

MEPIS Linux? thats not a good one? I was reading about slackware and it looks hard to config and setup.

ok I found this cool webstie where it shows how fedora is setup, like alot of pictures which I find very cool but i cant post the link because I havent posted more then 5 times hah. I couldt find wine on distrowatch.com? but only because i want to play counterstrike 1.6. so there is like only 2-3 distros that will allow you to play games?

Wine is actually a program run from within linux, so it won't be on distrowatch. There are a lot of games for linux, it's just that many mainstream games are not ported to run on linux natively, so you have to use Wine (or the like) to work around this limitation.

If you are new to linux do yourself a favour and download a live cd. Most of these have easy to hard drive install capacity. You can test them in livecd mode and install them if you wish. You get most everything you need with the one cd download.

PCLinuxOS, Kanotix, Mepis, and Knoppix are fine examples. There are several more.

WINE and Cedega are both programs. They are not distrobutions. Any distro can run either WINE or Cedega. I've used MEPIS and it is really good too. If you want to try out Linux without installing to your hard drive MEPIS is what is called a "LiveCD". That basically means you put in the CD and when you reboot it will run the OS from your CD with out needing to install it. Ubuntu which is a very popular distrobution has both install discs and LiveCDs for download. What distro you choose is really up to you. There is no "perfect distrobution". Thats like asking what the perfect car is. Porche, Mercedes, Jaguar, ect. Its all a matter of opinion and what you use it for. Some people like fast cars others like powerful trucks. Here is a list of distrobutions (in no paticular order) that are "beginner friendly" and you might want to check them out. They can be found on DistroWatch....

Ubuntu/Kubuntu
MEPIS
SUSE
Fedora Core
Knoppix
PCLinuxOS
Xandros
SLAX

You'll notice most of those are near the top of the list on DW. They are very good and easy to use. I have not had the pleasure of trying out all of them, so don't shoot me if they don't work out for you, but I think you'll find something that you'll be satisfied with. If not there are still a bunch of others you can try out on the list. Good luck!

If you want to try out some distros without messing with your computer there are some available as liveCDs. These will boot everything off the cd so you don't change your hard drive at all. Knoppix is a good one to check out linux in general, though I've heard it's not so great installed. Actually Mepis is based of knoppix and will act as a liveCD then give you the option to install it without even having to log out. I'm not sure what gave you the impression it's not a good, one, I played with it for a bit, and mostly just didn't like KDE which is a pretty superficial reason. This is an option for the desktop, the other major one is Gnome though there are lots of others.

My suggestion is Ubuntu. It's not too difficult to setup, but it does need a little bit of tweaking, so it's kind of good to start learning some things that other newbie distros do for you instead. There's also a version called kubuntu that is basically the same except it uses KDE by default if that's something you prefer. There are liveCDs for this available, and also a 64bit version which I'm not sure which of the others you've looked at have.

My other suggestion to check out that hasn't been suggested yet is Mandriva. It's pretty straight forward to get going. It was the first I installed, but when I got a new computer I tried out Ubuntu, and Mandriva didn't really seem special enough compared to how much I was liking ubuntu.

Thanx everyone for the post, I decided to try out Ubuntu Linux, it seems very popular.

To try a livecd of this I would just dl and it would run? If ubuntu works fine and Il just dl wine or something to play cs then that be awesome!

I was looking at Ubuntu and SeSE they both look awesome, I like how SeSE looks tho. I would want to try both of them

In order to use a liveCD you have to burn the ISO image to the CD. I think Nero has this capability, and I know Roxio 6 has it. I know how to do it in Roxio, not in Nero. I think SuSe also has a liveCD available.

EDIT: You can go here and they will send you a free Ubuntu installation CD. I'm not sure about LiveCDs, but look into it.
EDIT of the EDIT:Judging from here it looks like they'll send you both the LiveCD, and the Installation

ya I order somefrom the website thanks microsoft/linux.

The SeSE you can buy a 60$OS? Why does it cost money and etc is it worth buying?

http://www.digitalriver.com/dr/v2/ec...P=0&CACHE_ID=0

http://www.linux-gamers.net/modules/...p?articleid=17
might help you out once you get going

the reason you have to pay for some versions of some distos is for the support more than the operating system itself.