ok, i have some extreemly nu questions.

1) can i run windows software like games or stuff like that on it w/o compatability issues? (is linux compatable with windows software?)

2) is the duelboot setup suggested for gamers or will it hinder the machines performance?

3) will i have to d/l drivers for my controlers specificaly for linux.

1) technically the answer to this is no, windows software is not compatible with linux...which its not, but you can run some things with the use of something like wine or winex.

2) i don't see why dualboot would be suggested for gamers, and no it shouldn't hinder any performance...the only real use for dual booting is if you really need windows i guess...i get by just fine without it

3) if it don't work when you try it, then i guess the answer to this is yes you will have to download something to get whatever it is to work...i think the answer to that is pretty straight forward..

Might I suggest checking out Knoppix you can boot it via the cdrom, and get a general idea of how your hardware (and you too ) will handle linux without making any modifications to your machine.

Debian, (once actually installed) is really comfy to work with, and makes software management a snap.

Good luck to you.

Well suggested delta7,

in fact, if son_of_jeeves likes the knoppix, then he just needs to follow the link to find the knoppix forums and do a hard disk install, I found it nearly as easy as mandrake to install - of course there could be "modem" issues, depending what he uses to connect, but that's just a case of making sure about whether his modem is a "winmodem" or not (not being preferable).

Cos lets face it, a knoppix hd install is basically a debian unstable/testing install!

regards

John

p.s. knoppix, I found it nearly as easy as mandrake to install, as opposed to gentoo, which I found nearly impossible - but I got it eventually

wasn't worth the effort getting gentoo installed? though I wouldn't recommend it to the faint hearted

Oh, don't get me wronf fatgod,

It's worth it, though I'd stupidly presumed that after 2 years or so learning how to do "things linux", that the rather steep learning curve would start to level out, not get even steeper.

I'm obviously still too much of a window's/gui drone.

Seriously though, the gentoo documentation is considerably better than a lot of stuff I've looked at round the web, but it's still got a long way to go. The explainations of how to do stuff need to be a lot better written and not make the presumption of "prior knowledge".

Still, like British Rail, I'll get there eventually.

regards

John