Linux Ussers Speak Up...Time to teach an old dog new tricks

So i got this old Vaio laptop that fried the HDD, originally it came with Vista (WORST OPERATING SYSTEM EVER!!!!) and i downgraded to XP, well the HDD fried again (both WD Scorpions) now i have upgradded to a 320gig sea gate and am in the market for an operating system...I was going to use XP again as the drivers are availible but i have been looking into making a Linux system for years now and thought maybe i could try it...possibly would do a duel boot system so my wife can still use XP...

What i would like to know is:
1) what is the best version (thus far)
2) will Linux support the laptop drivers?
3) should i wait to get a tower?
4) what is operating like, do you perfer the enviorment to windows?
5) Anything i should know before starting the process?

let me know boys and girls

What i would like to know is:
1) what is the best version (thus far) UBUNTU IS THE MOST SUPPORTED AND MOST POPULAR
2) will Linux support the laptop drivers? IF USING UBUNTU THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE
3) should i wait to get a tower? YOU CAN TRY A LIVE CD FIRST BEFORE INSTALLING
4) what is operating like, do you perfer the enviorment to windows? I STARTED UBUNTU 5-6 YEARS AGO, HAVEN'T LOOKED BACK
5) Anything i should know before starting the process? TRY A LIVE CD AND SEE WHAT YOU THINK

Some good sites

http://distrowatch.com/
http://www.ubuntu.com/

i use fedora. i have installed on a lot of machines and i haven't had too many problems with drivers.

know how to partition the drive and the directory structure

1) what is the best version (thus far)

ubuntu is one of the best distro's on the market now. It's based on debian, so it's super stable as long as you're not fucking with too much. It's definitely the most user friendly for someone trying to get into linux.

edit: it's great for n00bs, but also great for pros. We run all of our production web applications on ubuntu servers. They've been up for 3 years (don't remember the exact time) without a restart. Try that with a Windows server.

2) will Linux support the laptop drivers?

Unless it's super old or super obscure, ubuntu (and most new versions of distros) will support most of your drivers.

3) should i wait to get a tower?

I agree with neosapien. Try out the Live CD and go from there.

4) what is operating like, do you perfer the enviorment to windows?

It's amazing, you won't miss windows much. At first you might feel lost because not all of your apps will have a linux version. But there are open source solutions for almost every piece of software you can find. For me it's Mac OS X > Linux > Windows

5) Anything i should know before starting the process?

Whatever you do, DO NOT expect it to work like windows. There will be similarities, but linux is NOT a copy of windows. Keep that in mind, and prepare to have some frustrations. Don't dismiss it though, it seems hard at first but only because you have years of windows experience.