Linux Newbie Choosing a Distro

[TheChronoRogue]

Hey guys, I know there are a lot of newbie posts basically stating "which distro should I choose?" I know that it is really personal preference. But I been doing some research and have a couple of specific questions.

First off, I know very little about Linux. I want to dual boot my WinXP machine with Linux. I was recommeneded RH9, but since it has been discontinued I think I shouldnt really use it. I heard Fedora is riddled with bugs. I was told Gentoo and Slackware were a bit much to start with, and I dont want to use Knoppix because I want to install it on my machine and not have to worry about popping in a cd.

So then is seems that I comes down to Debian 3.0r2, or SuSE 9.0. I've read Debian can be difficult at times and isnt as up to date as the distros, but is very stable. I dont know all that much about SuSE, but I heard its pretty good as well.

Any help would be great. Thanks guys. And happy new year.

[CMonster]

Sure, look here!

[crouse]

For someone new to linux...... Mandrake.

MHO, but it still is the simplest install and easiest to use. for most newbies.

[TheChronoRogue]

If I do wind up with Debian, will I have a problem installing RPMs, or does Apt-Get handle that? How exactly does the whole RPM vs DEB thing work out to a beginner?

[elroy]

If you're just starting try Mandrake. I am a total Linux moron and I got Mandrake installed and can use it. Mandrake installs pretty much all by itself.