Q. After spending last 6 years with Windows, I’m ready to give out Windows XP and move to Linux. Hardware compatibility is particularly important to me. Here is my configuration:
Intel Pentium D 930 CPU
Intel On board display and sound card
1 GB RAM
2 x 120 GB hard disk
Sony DVD writer
USB Pen and 1.44 MB Floppy etc

I use computer for Internet / Email and OO for document writing. I need system for writing Perl and PHP code.

Is my hardware compatible with Linux? Which Linux distribution is easy to use?

A. Most old and Intel technology should work with Linux. It is hard to guarantee that your hardware will be 100% compatible. The best way to check this is download any one of the available Live CD from the net. Burn the disk and simply boot from Live CD. If everything worked out fine, you can backup all data and install Linux.

I recommend Ubuntu Linux for new users but there are other distros as well. Check out this post about selecting Linux distributions.