I hear a ton about Ubuntu, but i cant use it.

I have Windows installed natively, but its broken and i dont have a product key.

with a 2000 laptop, i really cant do much, but what would be the best Linux OS for running under these specs?

♠ 750 MHz Intel Pentium III
♠ 10.05 GB IBM Hard disk
♠ CDRW/DVDR amd Floppy drive readers
♠ BIOS Micron Electronics 4.0 R6 05VN (needs an update, likely)
♠ 192MB RAM and maxed out
♠ ESS Meastro 3 PCI Audio card
♠ 1024x768 Display

im looking into PartedMagic, but give suggestions please!

Edit: if possible, please provide a link to website

I would reccomend debian. If it can run on my calculator, it can run on your computer...hopefully

Puppy Linux is great. If you can get SliTaz to work, that's good as well, though it isn't as compatible with old hardware as Puppy.

/me would go with arch + openbox | xmonad | ratpoison | awesome etc. of course, you can use all these on debian as well, and it would be easier if you don't want to mess around with it too much. the performance difference is mostly negligible.

I used to use CrunchBang (aka #!), and if you don't like fancy GUI's and compositing desktops, it's great. It is especially good for older hardware, it is based on debian and it uses the openbox desktop. It's really good for customisation and there is a very helpful community.

http://crunchbang.org/

you have a real linux OS running on a calculator? i think us here at cemetech would love to hear more about that ^.-

CrunchBang seems nice, i think that may be my way to go, but Puppy is a great idea too.

thanks much guys, ill try these all out!