Linux?

Hello, I am doing some experiments between OS's and I have a few questions about Linux. I will boot it from a USB stick for the first time, I am considering of installing it primarily (I need to turn in my laptop for warranty and I have no idea if my windows are ...er... legal, I didn't install them, nor do I know the guy who did).

1) What versions is the best to use? Right now I'm going to downloading Ubuntu 11.10.
2) What are the hardware limitations? Can I run it on an intel i5 and an Intel graphics card? Will it support 4gb ram?
3) Drivers, will I be able to install them the way I can on windows?
4) Last but not least, games, I know that not alot of games can be ran on linux, but I'm not sure. Will I be able to run rather low-end games like League of Legends and stuff?

Hello,

1) By what criteria ? I think Ubunto 11.10 is the newest Version of Ubuntu and recommend.
3) I would say not. But you can check this on the hardware website. You choose your hardware piece and look if there is a driver for it.
4) No LoL don't run on linux.
Before you buy a game you must check if there is a version of the game for linux. The most games don't run on Linux.

1) For normal users Ubuntu is the best Linux distrib. I know. If you want to boot from USB you can use Knoppix.

2) There are no known hardware limits for Ubuntu in normal computers.

3) You don't have to install drivers, Linux will do this alone ;)

4) You must run games which are programmed for Linux, like Quake III and Savage.

Okay, and what about virtual machines? Like VmWare?

For Linux there are many more virtualisation softwares with better perfomance, because it's used to split root servers into vservers.

OpenVZ is the software which is usually used to split roots.

U can choose a distrib on ur own, many ppl use ubuntu. There ARE drivers for linux....

You can use a windows emulation like wine to play games which are only designed for winsows.

Thanks, I´ll look into the ¨wine¨ thing.
~edit~
I installed ubuntu, it´s great, the process of was just amazing (compared to installing windows, it was a dream).

DO NOT install version 11.10 it is released but still in developtment.
The users have a lot of issues so i would recommend ubuntu 11.04

The only problem with LoL and wine will be the anti hack protection.
If it has GameGuard it is not going to work, i dont know about other protection software.