I want to install linux on my laptop, while keeping the XP installation as is if possible. I have played with a few live cd's briefly and like what I see. But I am still a TOTAL newbie to Linux

The specs for the laptop:
Dell Latitude C400
1.2 Gig
1024 ram
40g hdd (25g free)

I am wondering what is the easiest distro to install and use, and can I install it to dual boot while keeping my current xp install.

I looked through the forums but alot of the posts i pulled up were kinda old. I thought I would see if there were any new opinions for newer distro's.

Thanks

Rob

Installing shouldn't be too much trouble (Dell's work with Linux just fine usually--I've got Linux on two Dell boxes).

If the hard drive is not partitioned, then you wil have to partition it to make room for Linux. If that is what you have to do then these are the steps you'll need:

1. Backup Windows files and programms.
2. Partition the disk into 2 drives, one for Linux & one for Windows.
3. Install Windows.
4. Install Linux on the other drive.

I might add, if you're asking Windows and Linux to share a mere 1.2 Gig of space, you'll probably want a small distro! I can recommend Damn Small Linux and Puppy Linux as being two active small distros. I believe they both have install options, but never tried it.

Sorry for not specifying...

1.2 gig processor

1024MB of ram

40 gig hdd total

Well I went back to the post I did on these forums about a year ago, and did some reading other places as well. I am happy to say this is my first post from Mandrake.

Thanks for those who replied then and now. I will probably have many more newbie questions, but I will search the forums first.

Thanks

Rob