Some Linux groups aren't too friendly to people coming over from the dark
side. You'll get a better response if you get Linux installed and post
from it - and don't criticise it, the Linux guys are very sensitive souls
I recently put Ubuntu on an AMD 64 PC (DFI Lan Party mobo) and it
recognised everything - sound, NIC, the lot. I also put it on a Toshiba
Portege M300 laptop and again it recognised everything including the
wireless network.
It's a very new distro and recognises a lot more h/w than XP, which is
relatively ancient now.
I know there's not a lot of support for this view but I believe that in
some respects it would be easier to move from XP to Ubuntu Linux than to
Vista.