1. A Fresh Copy of your Favorite Distro
My favorite place to view the list of available distros and their features is a site called
Distrowatch.
Before doing anything major, like changing operating systems, on a computer it is wise to create a backup of your data.
3. Is your hardware compatible?
In modern Linux distributions hardware compatibility is usually not an issue; however, it is easy to check hardware issues with a LiveCD.
4. Identify your essential programs
The next step is to write down the applications that you use every day. This will help you determine what to install once you get Linux up and running.
5. Have a fresh hard drive/partition ready to go
When your backup is finished make sure you have an entire drive or partition ready for Linux before you install.
clipped from: www.nixtutor.com