Converting from Win to Linux

Hi all,

I've been tempted into substituting win2000 for Linux but have a lot of things on the PC that need to remain operational. Can anyone help with saying whether the following work, how well they work, and where can I get the drivers to make them work:

ELSAlink Fun modem 56k USB external.
ATi all-in-wonder 32MB DDR 4xAGP graphics card.
Iomega ZIP250.
HP 8200i CD-RW.
Generic Toshiba DVD drive.
HP 959C inkjet printer (I think this is supported, just).
On motherboard sound.
UMAX astrascan (parallel, though don't know what version, 1200P I think).

Also,
whether there is anything to convert MS Word to star office or anything similar. Though I could just output HTML or RTF or something else and read that in??

Any help would be greatly appreciated. You never know, I may soon be using Linux and not Win2000.

P.S. Also, is there anything like Acid Music for Linux that can sequence .wav files and do timestretching like Acid.

I know it's a lot of asking but Win2000 has really started to bug me.

Hi, you probably have picked up a distro, then go to their site and look for the "hardware compatibility list" (my advice is for Mandrake or SuSE or RedHat) and the manufacturers sites of course!
For software take a look at www.freshmeat.net or sourceforge.net .
Staroffice Writer has built in filters to import office files (.doc or better .rtf).
It can also output pdf.

If it's your first linux install you could just get a second disk for linux and keep your old windows stuff (dual boot). That way you can always drop back to windows if it doesn't pay off for you.

partitioned with windows linux can access your windows files

linux you can build your audio stations
with lot less latency if configured right


freebsd you could almost match mac performance

for alot less but alot more work

M$ Word: you can read the files with StarOffice, usually w/o problems.

Hardware: check it in SuSE's hardware db. Slow but should answer your questions.

Cheers, checking the SUSE hardware DB now.

It's not my first install, I've had the system dual booted before, but now I have less need for the PC part of it as I was previously needing ASP but have more need for PHP and have a laptop that has ASP installed on it. I know I can get PHP for IIS, I have a copy of it, but I would like it to run on a platform I trust!