I want to switch to Linux, I have never used it, which distro do you recommend for me?

Overall a Linux based platform can perform most of the tasks equally as well as a proprietary platform using OSS. Linux does have its limitations with some applications and in particular gaming

I thoroughly recommend Linux Mint 11. Its easy to install and easy to use plus it comes with much of the software you are likely to need preinstalled

Linux Mint 11 Download

http://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=81

How to Dual Boot Linux Mint 11 and Windows 7

http://www.linuxbsdos.com/2011/06/11/dual-boot-lin...

Linux Mint 11 Release Notes/User Guide

http://linuxmint.com/rel_katya.php

Also well worth considering is Linux Mint Debian Edition

Linux Mint Debian Edition Download

http://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=88

How to Dual Boot Linux Mint Debian Edition and Windows 7

http://www.linuxbsdos.com/2011/04/23/how-to-dual-b...

You download the ISO. image of Linux Mint 11 or Linux Mint Debian Edition then you need to create a Bootable LiveDVD

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BurningIsoHowto

Linux Mint 11 and Linux Mint Debian Edition can also be run straight from the LiveDVD from Boot without touching your Hard Drive

LUg.

Ubuntu is the most popular now.

Recommend you purchase a new hard drive and install Linux on the new hard drive and not try to dual boot. If you make a mistake you can loose all your data. By using a second HD all your data and origional Operating SystOriginalt intact. When you turn on the computer, Normally you can press the F12 key and pick which HD to boot off of.

KDE and Gnome are not Distros, they are a type of desktop within each distro.

both are ok.

I would say either Ubuntu 10.04 or Mint 9. Stick with gnome. Both are long term support distros, and are most stable. Beyond those two it gets a little tricky or less user friendly. With a little experience-then that will not be so much a bother.

There are a few new distro's out there that seem to work pretty good right away-

Pclinuxos and Zorin are nice and are based on Ubuntu. Both are good.

Fuduntu is Fedora based that looks more like Ubuntu.....its pretty good.

I recommend you use a distro with the desktop environment you prefer, because if you use one you don't, you might decide you don't like Linux based on your experience with just one distro. I had to try a few different ones before I found out which environment I preferred and which distro worked the best with it. In my case, it was Kubuntu with KDE, but you could very well like GNOME on Fedora, or KDE on PCLinuxOS, or Debian with Xfce.

If you want the best out of the box experience, I'd try Linux Mint. You can install KDE, XFCE, or whatever desktops you want and try them all, but the default Gnome one works very well. Because it's based on Ubuntu support is really good and almost every package imaginable is available.

zxc

Mint is likely easiest for novices. Ubuntu, Fedora, Suse, PCLinuxOS, and Mepis are all viable choices as well. As for the destop its a matter of personal preference, with the caveat you need a minimum of 1 GB of ram for KDE or gnome 3 and 512 for gnome 2 and 256 for xfce. KDE is going to be most like win7, and xfce or gnome 2 most like xp.

I'd recommend you to do some "distro hopping" using Live Linux before you commit to install any particular Linux on your computer.

Read reviews, download what you think may be interesting and easy for you. Play.

Linux Mint is ideal for novices but you say you can learn then Ubuntu is the most popular and is probably right for you. If you want to a slightly more advanced one then you may like Debian, it's what Ubuntu is based on so it's just as good as that.

For ease of adapting, I would suggest Mint 9 LTS with the Gnome desktop.

You may have to do a little digging for how to install the latest version of Firefox to it, but it's easy enough.

If you decide to go the route of installing it to a different HDD, and your system has SATA drives, then the dual boot becomes even easier for you, with no worries of messing up your Windows install. (email me if you want more details on this.)

I knew some moron would propose a MAC. Did you examine his positioned up? He merely build an AMD Phenom gadget, he won't be in a position to apply MAC. in case you in no way used Linux in the previous, Ubuntu is amazingly consumer-friendly and familiar to ex-domicile windows purchasers in that regard, yet once you're instilled in specific classes or (god forbid) video games, you will no longer locate the swap particularly elementary to handle. You if truth be told would desire to forget approximately utilising the classes you're used to altogether. despite the fact that some application, like Limewire professional, is accessible on Linux besides, maximum domicile windows application nevertheless isn't. while you're a open-minded and a techy-kinda-guy then you ought to have the skill to p.c.. up on it fairly fairly. I messed around with it some year in the past, the Feisty version, and that i unquestionably cherished it yet stopped utilising it because of the fact I constantly had a would desire to apply the old classes I constantly did. no longer each software for domicile windows has a Linux equivalent. while you're interior the temper for an iffy-journey, swap to Ubuntu, in case you in basic terms prefer to apply your computing gadget, downgrade to XP SP3. that's with the help of advice.