Has anyone got any experience of free operating systems? My old laptop runs Windows XP but it's not exactly a legitimate version and I'm totally fed up with the constant struggle to keep it up to date with the security patches etc. I think I've pretty much lost the fight because each time it connects to the internet it goes s-l-o-w, even switching between applications takes ages.. I must sort that out.

So, I want to ditch Windows and use something else. The machine has a pretty easy life really, as long as I can connect to the internet and preferably use Firefox then I'd be pretty happy. The opportunity to learn something new is also pretty appealing, I think I have only ever used Windows and DOS machines (with the exception of Spectrums and an Amiga).

What would you recommend?