Until a few weeks a go, I thought that Windows is better for beginners, or old people. When they buy a computer, they have Windows installed and ready for use, as well as Microsoft Word.
Now I am slowly changing my mind. Microsoft windows now is not really installed, only a trial short-time version is installed, so people have to switch to OpenOffice. And, with the last automatic Windows updates, Internet explorer starts being slower and slower, while Firefox still allows fast surfing.
So, for people wanting only to surf on the Internet with Firefox and word processing with OpenOffice, they can save the price of the Microsoft Windows operating system, and switch to Linux.
However, for other things, they may experience driver problems (for the USB sticks or for printers), which limits the interest for Linux. So, as Gr33nN1nj4 says, using a LiveCD can help switching to Linux.

I've always really wanted to try linux but I've never had a good opportunity to really get into it (uni etc.) I was quite interested in Gentoo as it had a pretty nice looking GUI. When trying to install, it was far too difficult for me. When I have the time (and my friend who has a MSc & BSc in computing) I'll get him over to help and explain it more.

Maybe I should try the Gentoo liveCD?

You're fully right. This costs nothing : only the time for burning the CD and waiting until it boots.
Then you will have a Linux, with very few efforts.
This will allow you to taste the Genoo look and feel.
After that, I would suggest you to "taste" the following :
. Knoppix
. Mandriva
You must really try these two. Knoppix because it's the most popular LiveCD today, and Mandriva because it's my favorite Linux distro, so if you trust me you must taste it.

If you're unfamiliar with Linux, Gentoo is highly NOT recommended due to the fact that the distribution is next to building your own distribution with a lot of options and compilation monitoring required. If you don't understand how Linux works yet, I recommend you stick to OpenSUSE, Fedora Core or Ubuntu. I don't like the latter, a bit too restrictive and no real room to grow.

xboxrulz

xboxrulz: This is actually why I used to suggest people get the old(like the pre2006) Gentoo LiveCD and just do a simple install, they didn't have to keep it installed. After they did that I suggested that use Fedora or Debian or whatever else they want. This way they have a decent understanding of their hardware and knows how to move around the Linux system. I would tell them how to boot up and get on IRC and walk them through the Gentoo handbook. Which actually turned out good as if they got a error message like Xorg failing to start, no audio driver loaded, etc. they would know how to fix it (NOTE: I don't recommend this anymore simply it is too much work for me to walk people through it )

I'll look into OpenSUSE as it looks quite friendly. The the only problem is... my CDRW isn't working too well!!! I have Nero 8 as well as a couple of other ISO burners but my drive just fails every time. The problem is to do with the drivers for my drive. If it's worth it (and you're up to the challenge) I'll post more about it on another section. Shame as I'd be up for giving it a go.

Maybe you should just replace your CDRW, they aren't that expensive anymore. A good LG DVDRW is $30 compared to back then when DVDRWs were much more expensive. I say that the learning experience that you get from using Linux and actually have the will to learn is greater than any operating systems I've ever used, including FreeBSD, which I'm learning right now.

xboxrulz

Have you tried updating your CDRW's firmware?

Simplest way I know:
Open up imgBurn
Choose "Write files/folders to disc" this will allow you to enter the drive options
Then goto Tools->Drive->Check for Firmware Updates
It will tell you your current firmware version save it in notepad or write it down on a piece of paper
Click cancel(you click ok, it doesn't do a proper search)
Then go back to tools->drive and goto Regional Code->Information this will tell you your drive make/model/and a bunch of other stuff)
goto www.rpc1.org
on the left hand side you will see a search box
search for your drive and it should come up with a list of supported firmware and usually the latest version as well..
download and flash

DISCLAIMER: yada yada risk bricking drive yada yada I am astahost is not responsible in the event of bricking so flash at own risk yada yada (tho i have done this my self and it is pretty painless)

I've tried that flash page but was unable to find the right one. After searching again I did find this page. It has what I need but not in an XP version.

It turns out that when an update of SP2 was released, it changed my DVD drivers. Now, I can't seem to find a replacement for the Windows version (dated 2001). The 'roll back driver' will not work either.

My device is a CW-8572 (Matshita DVD / CD-RW)
Current driver is: 5.1.2535.0 (Microsoft 01/07/2001)

I would like to buy a new drive but I want to try to fix the problem.

Having been bored today, I tried using VirtualBox to run openSUSE from within XP. I have to say, it's pretty good. It seems to have many features as well as software already built in. My only fear is that I know little to nothing about installing anything in Linux e.g. Flash.