I am currently using Windows XP, I just got a new motherboard and whatnot... was waiting for longhorn(i have the 64 bit motherboard thing)
im not too knowledgeable about computer stuff but I know more then a lot of people I know...
so uh ya... ive never heard of anything other then Windows and Mac until this point in time...
can someone explain to me... if I get Linux without even trying Knoppix and stuff... what are my chances of being disappointed
will i still be able to play the games I play now?
are there any hardware problems? where can I get info for this?(a list of some sort hopefully)
I hear that security is better... that doesnt seem to be too much of a problem for me... I don't use IE and I have a software Firewall and Norton Antivirus...
(atleast I don't think I have a security problem) but better security would be a good reason for me to switch to Linux.
what is the difference between Redhat, and some other odd names... I thought it was just gonna be Linux... but it seems that there are many different types of it?

so ultimately:
if I switch to linux... will I get tons of headaches?

The difference between Redhat, SusE, Slackware, and all the others can include a number of things:
Where files are placed
What the default window manger is
Possibly the inteded use. Some are geared to be servers, some as desktops.
The utilities that install software packages.

"Linux" refers to the kernel, so all distrobutions are linux. If you wanted, you could make "zspecfenix17 Linux" and create your own distrobution. Linux and Windows are only as secure as you make them. Out of the box, linux will be more secure, but nothing is 100% secure. If your not watching your log files, why bother setting up a firewall at all.

Will you get headaches? If you've never used a command line, then probably. If you ever had to use DOS, then it isn't bad.

Short answer, yes. You will get headaches. Part of the fun of linux is sorting these headaches out and getting your system to where you want it. If that's not really your cup of tea then I'd say stick with Windows.

Chances are your hardware will work, if you have an ATi card and are a big gamer then I don't think linux will be much fun, not sure about the new ATi drivers but Nvidia seems to be the way to go. And yeah you'll probably be able to play all your games via something like Cedega but again, something else that will probably cause headaches but it all works, sometimes just needs a little mucking around first.

Well,

firstly, I am also a beginner level, but I know my way around and Linux works for me fine. As for security, since most people use MS products, they take away most attention of "Sie Germans" , though what will become of it in the future I don't know. There are some people here who would probably have a more detailed answer.

Best security measure I know is using a typewriter and ink which is readable only on special occasions (like full moon, durins day,.... In order not to get crucified by other geeks here for this blasphemy, I have to mention that Linux is inherently stable system, with security measures visible from the first steps you make.

Anyway, for the "odd names" you mention (And windows is not a silly name?What would you like? A "Catholic Church mass Linux ver 33"?) Those are distributions. These consist of Linux itself (the OS kernel, I won't bother to explain that, you'll see for yourself, he he ;-> ), various programs (ranging from just a few to several hundreds (thats Debian for example) ), and some predefined system configurations.

This last part is actually most important, I believe, for somenone who is just beginning to make first steps.
Some of the distros (like Knoppix) are already pretty much configured and have pretty good autodetection capabilities (meaning that they will detect your graph card, wheel mouse, printer, monitor, etc without need for any drivers in most cases (provided that you get the latest version) ). With these your primary task is to grasp the basics of GUI. As for other (e. g. Slackware, you will have to start learning the way of Linux from the beginning, or no music, movies, ... This doesn't mean Slackware is bad (i am using it) only that you just need to learn a new OS)

As for games, Linux sucks because until now nobody cared about it. However, you don't need to get rid of XP, you can interchange between Windows and Linux at boot time.

For me, the most important advantage of Linux is the abundance of quality free software. For example Knoppix the one disc live distribution has an excellent Office, multimedia tools, many programming tools, excellent LaTeX support. So in one disc you get a fortune in commercial applications.

I'd say, if you you're not that dead set on linux, just get knoppix... the fact is that you're gonna have to burn an install disk anyway if you choose to install Linux, so you may as well just burn off a copy of Knoppix and have a look for yourself!

Personally I'm using SuSe for the minute (YAY! Two whole days of running Linux so far!) and once I know my way around BASH, I'll probably switch to Slackware sos I can do it all my own way!

headaches yes and a lot (it depends on your distro
and hardware) it also depends on the user if
your the kind of guy who's impatient and doesn't
read and research a lot linux would really be a big
pain in the neck if your planning to get a copy of
linux try a mandrake its user friendly or suse it has
good hardware detection for me i like redhat bec its
my first distro and i'm looking for a copy of suse and
mandrake here! £Ä3

my best advice is to try it your self beacause asking forums you WILL get a bias opinions on things around here so in my honest opinion try things for your self