Interesting question. I read an article yesterday that suggested using
Linux for online banking because of Windows/Mac vulnerabilities, so
you're on the right track.
I've run several versions of Linux, and it's hard to beat Ubuntu for
ease of installation and use. Burn the CD, boot to it, answer a couple
of questions and you're done.
As for the install, that's up to you. I've always found dual-booting to
be a pain, but it has its uses.
My latest install (Ubuntu 9.1) detected my network and just worked, but
prior versions called for editing the smb.conf file, which is mildly
daunting, but help is readily available.
http://www.ubuntu.com/

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [PCBUILD] Learning Linux
From: Loy Pressley <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, October 14, 2009 7:09 pm
To: [log in to unmask]

Good morning,

I want to learn to use Linux. MS Windows is becoming more and more 
trouble and much more intrusive. Learning and using the Linux operating 
system is a way to begin weaning myself from Windows. I have an old Dell

800MHz computer on my home network. The hard drive in it is one of a 
number of backup locations for my data files. Turning it into a Linux 
based machine would help me to learn the operating system.

The Dell currently has WinXP Home as the operating system, 512K of ram, 
and lots of empty disk space. Should I format the hard drive and install

Linux on it? Would it be better to dual boot and install and run Linux 
in a separate partition on the machine? How do I install Linux and set 
it up to dual boot with Linux and WinXP? Will I loose connectivity with 
my home network if I install Linux on the Dell computer?

Thanks in advance for the help and guidance.

Loy

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