As you see from the replys there is no one "right" answer" to this question. It depends on what you want to do. First of all I love linux for the freedom of choice. I really don't want my OS vendor deciding what they can do with my system but Learning Linux does take some time because there are so many options. Unfortuantely you don't know what you don't know. Here's my 2 cents. WINDOWS CLONES If you want something that looks like windows, feels like windows, and acts like windows you might try Lindows. I'm not really ready for i becauseI don't particullarly like there click and run strategy but you can stick in your microsoft Application CD's and install and run them just like you would in windows (they won't all work correctly but you'd be surprise how many will). You can still download and install open source applications on your own. Go out to Walmart.com and pick up a 1.1gz duron with 128 meg memory and 10 gig hard drive for $199 Lindows OS pre-installed and Viola!!! you're a linux user. It really can be that simple. You might also try Xandros which comes with crossover office an excellent application for running windows apps but I have no personnel experience with Xandros. On the other hand if you really want to force yourself to learn linux by readiing docs and man pages and howtos and spending countless hours surfing the web then start with REDHAT I like redhat myself but I like it for its server setup and configuration. I also want to understand Linux internals. I use it for my desktop too but wouldn't really recommend it for someone looking for a desktop. Just recently I finally got bold and set up a redhat desktop for my 13 yr old daughter to use. It took several days to get everything right and I have experience. Little things that you may or may not care about. For example there is no java by default. My daughter hits the the sites heavy on java and flash so I had to install java and falsh plugins and I threw in plugger for quicktime movies as well. Things I don't really care about myself. The default PDF viewer is ok but acrobat reader is better. Another install. Her PC is mostly a chat room with an MP3 player. Instant messenger worked great right out of the box but Redhat does not support MP3. Another upgrade. The list goes on. Finally I've about had with redhat on the desktop for one very simple reason. Their menu sturcture is very illogical and virtually impossible to modify. SUSE / MANDRAKE. If you want something in between. Suse and Mandrake are pretty easy and tend to offer better "desktop" options right out of the box DEBIAN / SLACKWARE If you are really into S&M start with debian or Slackware. But if you really just want to learn and don't really care if you ever actually get to use Linux why not build your own distribution. http://www.rocklinux.org/about.html Finally, why a new PC? You could just pick up a new hardrive and try out Linux on your current PC. Of course what you don't know can still get you. I tried this with Lindows. It informed me that it was going to take over the entire disk but assured me that I would have an option to pick the harddrive I wanted if I had multiple harddrives. What it didn't tell me was that it only saw one drive beccause there was no partitioin table on the new drive. So just like that the windows partition is GONE. Fortunately, I really don't miss it one bit. Old habits die hard and sometimes a little extra push is really what you need. Good luck and congratulations. Welcome to the world of free computing. . cxobert wrote: >Hi. > >I am new to this list, and new to Linux. > >I am looking to get a new PC to install and run Linux on at home. I'd >just as soon see if I can do the installation myself to learn what it's >like. > >I could use feedback or advice on where to proceed - what >distribution(s) of Linux to look at, a suggested place to get my >machine, issues I should be aware of before or after I buy. I've done >some nosing around online and have some ideas, but I could use feedback >from experienced users. > >So - can anyone help point me in the right direction? > >Thanks in advance. > >Cheers, > >Charlie Obert >cxobert at goldengate.net > > > > > > >_______________________________________________ >TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota >http://www.mn-linux.org tclug-list at mn-linux.org >https://mailman.real-time.com/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list > > > -- Paul Overby xpoverby at attbi.com phone: 651-452-3233 _______________________________________________ TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota http://www.mn-linux.org tclug-list at mn-linux.org https://mailman.real-time.com/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list