In article <bcad0998674508884821e58e3a588132@tatooine.homelin ux.net>,
starwars wrote:

Congratulations on a very sane OS choice. However, your questions are
quite meaningless, and I think you should refine them a little.

> I'm looking for a version of linux that is easy to install. If it could be
> as easy as windows 98 to install, that would be ideal, but I'm willing to
> do a little work if I have to.

Speaking of Linux per se, get a fairly new version, 2.4 is good.

If you mean the difference between distributions like Red Hat, Debian,
Mandrake, etc., few distributions today are as hard to get working as
Windows 98. You even get all the apps and drivers installed at the same
time, as a bonus!

> Standard office apps are available for linux, if I have it right, and so
> are email clients and browsers, but I'm wondering how difficult it will be
> getting linux to recognize my network card. Will there be any problem with
> the CD reader and the CD burner?

No way to tell, since you don't give a clue about what sort of cards and
CD drives you have! I have no problems, for what it's worth, which is not
much. Check the hardware compatibility list of whatever distribution you
end up choosing.

> Once the network card is working, can linux 'talk' to the other computers
> on our home lan? They are running windows, and are connected using a
> Linksys router.

Of course. Networking is the strong area of Linux.

> Any idea of the best way to acquire the OS - download or on CD?

I don't know. Would you prefer downloading or do CDs feel more
comfortable? Do you have a fast connection? Are you willing to buy a boxed
set of a nice commercial distribution with CDs, manuals and tech support?

--
Juha Siltala
http://www.edu.helsinki.fi/activity/people/jsiltala/