Starting from the very beginning

If you’re planning to use Linux, you have to first start considering the hardware you have. There are certain known devices which seem to be problematic when it comes to working with Linux.

For laptop users, you could check out Linux on Laptops. They are sorted by brand. You could also look at TuxMobil so that you have other ideas when it comes to laptops. I am not sure how deep the coverage is of both sites, but there’s pretty much a lot of information in both of them. Again, the lists are grouped according to manufacturer. You could also look at the information available on the various user forums and wikis. For Ubuntu users, there’s the Ubuntu Laptop Testing team wiki. If you want to know if your laptop is compatible with OpenSuse, they also have a list of laptop compatibility for OpenSuse.

Some distros also have a list of compatible devices. You could check them out if there are devices that you rely on and would need them badly.

• OpenSuse Hardware Compatibility List
• UbuntuHCL - Comprehensive Ubuntu Hardware Database
• Linux Compatible
• Linux Drivers

The last two items on the list are links to general hardware compatibility guides unlike the first two ones. But the Linux Drivers website actually gives more links to other hardware compatibility guides.

As for packages, each distro has a basic set of packages. Packages for a desktop environment, an office suite, media players, image tools, etc. But I suppose that it won’t hurt to install Gnome-do (a nice launcher of apps), unrar (for extracting archives in the RAR format, postr (a file uploader for Flickr users which has a nice integration with Nautilus), Workrave (to make sure you get breaks at work). But the only way you could figure out what packages to install is by listing down what tasks you always do.

Other than these hardware and software checking, you need to psych yourself up that Linux is totally different from Windows and it has its own set of pros and cons.