Hi!

I have a Acer Ferrari 3400 Laptop know with Windows XP and I wanna install Linux on it.

What sort of Linux should I use? And where do I download it? Can I download it free?

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xTosse

Try this test to determine a distro.

Then try DistroWatch which should have links on where to download them.

But what sort of Linux should I use?

What do you mean by that? Did you take the test PsypherPunk suggested?

Download Linux. The best way to decide is to download a few, test each for a week or so, download some more, repeat, rinse. Then you will have an idea of what you like the best. All we can tell you is what we like.

Also, try a search for "best distro", "what linux" and similar. This has been asked thousands of times before.

If you mean compatibility, I suggest you take a look at http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/acer.html and see if your model or one like it is listed there. Once you determine if Linux will run on your laptop, then look at several distros. I suggest Ubuntu or Fedora.

I hope this helps
--Ian

xTosse hi,
its great you are thinking of trying linux as your system. as everybody has pointed out you should download and try one first. Make it the one that infatuates you the most. This will be your first linux system and you will start learning your tricks here.
It is very difficult to suggest one particular distribution to everybody because every individual is different. we suggest you follow the natural process of finding THE ONE that is best for you, in other words THE ONE that best suits your needs and is MORE LIKE YOU. You are in no way restricted to stick by only one system you see. When you feel you have done enough with a particular system and would like to see what other distro's have different from your current one, you first venture out to find THE ONE. And you will find THE ONE.

Hi agian!

I thinking of to format the system, what sort of system type do I have to use? Linux EX2, Linux EX3 or Linux Swap?

I've been using SuSE Linux for a long time and I love it! You can download it free from opensuse.org. It's a great distro for beginning and advanced users. The installation has a very simple interface as well. Once you download it form opensuse.org and start the installation you will find that it will guide you through reformatting your computer (you can either keep your windows installation or delete it). I've used both reiserfs and ext and have been happy with both (you can do search to find out the difference if you are interested). I've run it on a laptop (not the same as yours though) and it worked just fine.

Okej, but I think I find one I like know I just wanna know what system type I have to use.

ext2 is good only for small partitions, like boot partition (in case you have one)
ext3 is a very good strong filesystem, recommended for general use
swap is a special partition type, equal to Windows swap file

PsypherPunk -- thanks for that link to the test to determine what distro to use -- it was pretty cool. It recommended I use SuSE 10 (which I am), so I guess now I'm even more sure I'm running the right distro for me