I want to try Linux on a 5yr old desktop, What is the best and up to date Linux to install.CPU-AMD Sempron(tn)3000+,CPU Speed-2000MHz/333MHz, Ram 1.5G

What exactly are the specs of the machine? (Ram, Hdd, CPU...)

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5yr desktop means absolutely nothing.
I have 4.5 y.o laptop which successfully runs all the newest versions.
If your machine is underpowered for some reason, you may look at lower-market niche distros like Puppy, or into lower-requrements desktop environments like XFCE or LXDE which effectively run on any "big gun" distros (Fedora, Ubuntu etc).

You can have a look at my blog - I tried quite a few distros so far, you may understand what works better and why...

A machine that was manufactured only five years ago should be able to run any Linux distribution fairly well (half a gigabyte of memory and ten gigabytes of disk space should enable a newcomer to Linux to try out pretty much any distribution quite comfortably, assuming that the machine has a CPU speed upwards of one gigahertz --- trying to run Mandriva on a Pentium III, for example, won't be a terribly pleasant experience ). The "best" Linux distribution is a subjective assessment and really would depend upon your requirements --- take a look at DistroWatch (the most popular distributions are described on this page) and figure out which suits you best.

...As for which is the most up-to-date, many of the major distros have a fairly regular release cycle: for example, Fedora's latest release was just four months ago, at the start of November last year; Ubuntu's latest was the month before, and their next releases are scheduled for the month after next. Between releases, updates are available and the process of downloading and installing them is usually pretty straightforward.

Hope this helps: good luck!

I have a 10 year old desktop which can successfully and smoothly run Arch Linux (which is my favourite distro) and CrunchBang Statler. It struggles and slows with Ubuntu and it's derivatives.

Without the OP stating his specs all recommendations are somewhat pointless. Let's wait for him.

I'm using a Sempron 2600 and 1.25GB of RAM. As you see, I'm running Fedora on this and I've tried out a counple of dozen distros on it: all were fine.

Try this for some ideas: http://polishlinux.org/choose/quiz/

Distros I think are worth looking at (for what that's worth): Mint for the Gnome desktop, Salix for Xfce, PCLinuxOS for KDE.

Good response, DavidMcCann, have a pint on me!

Hi Everybody ,

I Have just installed ubuntu's desktop edition of version 10.10 by download it through wubi software . But after booting it I can't change the resolution from 800X600 to 1024X768 .I have tried much to change it but its showing unknown monitor my monitor is from BENQ V551 .It will be good if anybody can explain about this .If this version of OS is incompatible with my PC then, which OS should I choose for my PC by UBUNTU ?I have Intel 82845G/GL/GE/PE/GV graphic controller and Intel Celeron CPU 1.70 GHz with Intel pentium III and 512 MB RAM . And please mention the OS and its version for my desktop which can work. Thanks in advance.