Just as the title says, i've been a windows user since i've been introduced to computers.
I was looking for something to learn, something better. Then i heard about linux a while back...Then a few weeks i attempted to install various distros on my comp. None would work, either it the distro would have a conflict with my Video Card, monitor, or both.
Recently i picked up a 15" monitor for a mere $10...
With in the last two days, i've setup a dual boot on my system. WinXP Pro and Red Hat 9.

Now, the specs of my system.
AMD Athlon 850mhz
512mb SDRAM
Geforce2 MX 400 (dual monitors)
Lite-On CDRW/DVD combo drive
secondary CDRW
15gb Quatum Fireball
80gb Maxtor (65gb for win, 15 for RH)

That's it for me,
I hope to learn alot from these forums.

Welcome to the community. I also dual boot with 2k for gaming. I spend most of my time in Linux tho. I hope you find it as enjoyable as I have. Remember, be patient. Rome wasn't built in a day.

Hey there, thanks for the welcoming.

I'm already impressed with Linux so far....
I'm currently in Xp though, i have to configure for my other 3d apps and such and for school...Linux is for fun and sanity!

I just boot into linux by default. Then I can go to win if I need to, but I try to use linux first. Oddly, besides the games I really just never use win anymore. Most people find that sweet spot if they are patient and just give it an honest chance.
Those that go back the first time they have trouble probably were never serious to begin with. Your monitor problem demonstrates that you will probably be happy with it sooner than you think. Just keep it in your mind when you buy new hardware, and check compatability before you buy to avoid problems in the future.

what is this sweet spot that you speek of?
what do you mean by the "demonstration"?

The sweet spot is the point where you find that you really don't need windows anymore

by demonstrates I meant that you seem to be not giving up at the first sign of a problem. You got a cheap monitor and fixed the problem rather than just giving up...

if it wasn't for a couple programs, i'd prolly give up windows right now....
quesiton for you, how could i go about running wine

linux is amazing!!! but be careful the distros out there are so packed with useful applications that it can be overwhelming. I have tried a couple of distros and have chosen mandrake. Every time i need an application i usually find it on disk 2 or 3. Although at first I was confused that i could find a program that works as well (if not better than) photo shop. After a quick search on linuxquestions.org this thing called gimp seems to fit the bill without a huge price tag (just consider a small donation). It is not always easy to change my windows mind set and think a little differently, i wish I would have discovered this sooner!!! Good luck to anyone that considers linux, It took me a year to finally change one computer to linux after fighting win 98 over and over on issues that I could not fix.

i also changed from win to linux, and i only use win now for my dad or when i really need it for like burning cd's or doing stuff i can't in linux

GuntherDW I also had the same problem with burning cds until I started using mandrake. It comes with k3b and it is very easy to use (resembles ez cd creator). It allows you to make data cds or create music cds from a mp3 file format. There is a lot of info on this forum about using it with slackware. I am not trying to promote mandrake but it has been the easiest to use for me to use and it is very complete distro. It has kept my frustration level to a minimum and there is a ton of info out there about common problems that newbies face.

hmm now i use cdrtools, and it works like a charm (even works in bash! )