Linux on the desktop?

[classicdrogn]

1ghz dual-core w/4gb ram is actually decently usable with L-/Xubuntu, but I'd recommend double that at the minimum, and 16gb for futureproofing. 2gb feels cramped but will still work, though not much of anything will have enough ram in WINE and you can only manage a few browser tabs at once. Debian or any flavor of Ubuntu are pretty much a matter of "put it in, it installs" these days, and are faster about it than Windows, though if you want to keep dual-boot ability you'll need to use the disk partition manager from inside Windows first to shrink the existing volume and make space for a Linux partition. You can actually run just about any flavor from a USB stick though, to play around without messing with your 'doze installation at all.

E: Other distros are certainly viable, but I don't have any experience with them so I can't comment. Debian is a bit behind the tech curve as distros go because it sticks to only the most stable and tested versions of things, Ubuntu is a little more adventurous, and I forget what the cutting edge rolling distro is, but even that is still very good by reputation.