Bewildered by choice on Distrowatch, no kidding! Let's say I decide on Linux Mint based on some of the recommendations here. Then I look at this list of downloads. I figure that 4.0 is the latest while at the same time it's been around a while, so it sounds good. Then I have to decide which of the "editions" I want. I see that some are KDE, which is enticing since I see threads about KDE on the N800 desktop. But the Gnome Main seems maybe best developed? Any suggestions?

Additionally, I would like to run Linux on my Thinkpad X22 (800 MHz, which indicates its vintage). It's maybe tricky for hardware recognition since it's a subcompact in which the CD drive is not integrated, rather it's in a dock. I've come across an old post with someone talking about running an old Red Hat distribution on his X22, so I was tempted to copy what he had done. But that's way old stuff and I understand Linux usability has come a long way since then. Should I anticipate problems arising from using a newer Linux distribution on my old-ish and subcompact+dock hardware? All the distros equivalent at handling those types of issues? Thanks.