I am a new user to the Linux world. I am pretty much tired of windows and want to try something else. I researched and decided to go with Ubuntu 7.10. I downloaded and burnt it onto a cd. I booted it up from cd and clicked Start or Install Ubuntu. It loads up and when it starts to show the desktop it goes no further. All I have is a peach colored screen with nothing on it. I can move the mouse around but nothing else and im not really sure what to do now. I have tried restarting and doing it again but I get the same thing. Oh and also I did a Check CD for Defects and it was ok. Does anyone have any suggestions?

First, how long did you wait after seeing the background? It can sometimes take quite a while for the rest of the desktop to load.

Second, you might want to check your hardware against a Hardware Compatibility List (HCL). While not 100% definitive, it is usually a good place to start (IMO) when diagnosing these situations.

Thid- although you've settled on Ubuntu, other distributions may be more specific and are just as user-friendly. Fedora comes to mind, and they also have Live CDs for the most recent version (Werewolf, 8). OpenSuSE is also an option, though I find it's user-friendliness often extends only to OOTB (out of the box) installations. After that, if you want to do anything besides what you told it to do during setup (or use applications not in the official repositories), it often becomes awkward. It's a good first step, though.

Besides those, look into PCLinuxOS, Mandriva, and Linux Mint.

Ubuntu is not the end all be all of Linux distributions.

Disclaimer: This is all opinion and personal experience. The truth is that you should try many things and decide what is right for you.

My experiences with live CD's have proved that a great deal of patience can be required.

A quick google search revealed that the Dell 4300 line are getting quite old (7 years according to PC World), and the older and less powerful a PC, the longer it will take to boot from a LiveCD.

Considering that GNOME really doesn't like to run on less than 512MB of RAM (and you probably have around 128MB unless your computer has been upgraded in its lifespan) I would recommend trying a distrobution has less bells and whistles and will run more smoothly on your system.

I am new to the community myself, so no example pop to mind. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Yes, I did wait awhile for it to boot up. I am going to check the HCL and see what it says. You are right the 4300 is old, but I have a much newer laptop I just wanted to test it out on a computer that I don't really need. Just in case I screw something up I don't want it to be on the computer I need and if I don't like it. I might just have to hold of on the Linux experience until I can get another computer.

Ok. So I started looking around and it turns out Xubuntu can run on slower computers. I might have to give that a try. Unless I can figure out why Ubuntu won't work.

Xbuntu looks like a good choice. Give it a try, and be sure to let us know of the results.