I am going to tell you what I would do personally because of course you have to make your own decisions. I would not put the money into that machine, it has way too many limitations and is quite outdated. However that machine would be a good option to load a linux distro on and start learning linux and yes it is easy enough to use that someone with no knowledge of it can do it, I did. Now I use linux daily and rarely use windows (except to do the windows updates and all those scans LOL)

For the purchase you can get some very good deals right now on a pc that would fit your needs well, I personally like xp better than vista and it is still available on a lot of pcs. If you choose not to buy new you can find really good deals on used computers with xp on them. I got a great pc off of craigslist recently.

I would just start doing some shopping and look around at what is available for the price you are willing to pay, I have seen some great systems lately in the $500 range.

As to linux my personal fave distro is SimplyMepis7 it is extremely user friendly and one of the easiest to go to from Windows in my opinon, I tried a few others including ubuntu but just really like Mepis, everything just works. There are great forums around to help you. I am not a linux geek, I do not do a lot of command line stuff, these days there is great GUI so it is possible to do linux with out a lot of deep command line knowledge, but that is always something you could learn if you wanted to.

I use my Mepis daily I am on it now, I rarely ever have to reboot, I get my updates and they rarely require a reboot, I use it for pretty much everything I need, there are tons of free programs that cover a lot of aspects of what most people use and need. You can access the repositories of those programs with a program built in to your linux distro, on mine that is synaptic, Just log into synaptic, search for the programs I want, select them and have them install, it is that simple. Plus each distro comes with a LOT of great programs right on the cd. You can run linux right off the cd in your cd drawer of your windows pc to see how you like it with out ever having to install anything.
Feel free to ask what ever you want to know.

Try some searches at like buy.com for computers where you can select your price range and see some of the stuff that turns up.
Locally walmart and sams and costco have some good buys now too. If you have a Big Lots near you they are handling much of the Circuit city sell out and have some great prices on computers. Here is the link to one of their online specials.

Here is a link that might be useful: HP Pavilion

Mark I loved my old primary Win98 system and still use a second one out in the garage so I know an old friend system is hard to let go of. Saying that, it is time to replace it.

I was fortunate as I use a Win2000 and a XP system at work so I was able to ferret through the contents and the Help for knowledge. Plus hanging around several forums for all these years kept me in the loop. However, there came a time when the learning curve became too extensive, support for Win98 was being cancelled, and the advancement of software and peripherals created a resource drain on the system. So finally in April of 2007 I bought a new Vista system and I must say I have absolutely no regrets.

Also, I live in rural America and am still on an antique DUN. Though in actuality the new system did not improve the connection speed, it did improve the data processing of the packets. This gave me an artificial increase in Internet speed which was quite noticeable.

DA

Raven and DA, Wow. Talk about pertinent and useful. Thank you both.

I think we will go with the new system, or at least, a newER system, if only because we'll both feel more comfy with it.

Our DUN speeds range from 27 to 40 kb/s- and it's terrible sometimes! Downloading even a high resolution photo is a trial, let alone a video. Sometimes we have to sit and wait for letters to catch up with the keyboard.

It probably doesn't matter what my processor or clock speed is, does it?

I'm leaning towards Vista (Ma will probably prefer something as intuitive as possible) but I do want to explore Linux- and there's this really nice geek at work; I may have to get him to load a Linux system on the old computer as suggested.

Thanks, you've been very helpful, both of you.

Best wishes, and a very Happy New Year,

Mark

ps- remember the old adage, "never trust anyone over 30?" Well, in computers it's truer than ever- and since I'm pushing 60 now I just don't want to do the song and dance ... Plug it in and go to work, dern it!!

I agree totally with Raven and DA. Get a new computer. You'll be amazed at the difference between it and your old one. Then use the old one to try out one or more Linux distros. Perfect setup!

Vista is only a slight learning curve from XP. Besides, XP will be outdated eventually, you might as well go with Vista. I actually like it more than XP which is still on my older desktop (laptop has Vista).

I agree a new system would be best. I just bought a nice laptop for under $500 for my mother who mainly uses it for communication, research, and the occasional game.

Do your homework first so you know what to look for in terms of specifications.