Linux media centre PC 2197

Jimbo

Any Linux distribution on reasonably modern hardware will work for those tasks.

What sort of programming do you do and in what language? If it's something like Visual Basic or .NET, Linux may not be a good choice for you. (Those are Microsoft products, after all.)

Add something such as one of the WinTV PVR cards to a Linux system, install appropriate software (there's plenty to choose from), and you're good to go.

My advice: get Linux up and running first then add the TV tuner card once the basics are working.

Irrelevant. End users don't need to write (nor even read) a single line of code.

What counts is a willingness to learn about Linux. That and accepting the fact that Linux isn't Windows, doesn't work like Windows, and won't be changed to do things the Windows way. If you just want something that's as familiar as Windows 98...Windows XP is the closest you'll get on a new system. If you want to learn, then Linux can be a fun and rewarding experience.

You'll inevitably have to do some configuring: loading appropriate drivers for hardware and that sort of thing. Not terribly different from the customization done to tailor Windows to your particular hardware. No coding required. Compiling your own kernel and software is an option but not a requirement.

All you need to know is what hardware you have, so that you can figure out what drivers you need for it.

One idea to consider, if you're unsure about the transition, is to acquire a new Windows PC to be your main box while replacing Windows 98 with Linux on your existing system. Any Linux distribution should run on the old Win98 box (although you might not want to use KDE or Gnome if it has less than about 256MB RAM---use IceWM or similar instead). Or you can setup the new system to dual-boot (choose Linux or Windows at boot time) to ease the transition.