Moving an old machine to Linux

[caravel]

I didn't install any drivers for the vid card yet; would that improve performance on kid's browser games (Shockwave, 'VirTools,' etc.)? That's mostly all she does, sites like Starfall and such. I've been quite impressed with Ubuntu so far, but it'll be next weekend before I can do any major work on it.

It speeds up the GUI, and adds opengl support for games. How easy it is and how well it works all depends on which card you have though. If it's an Nvidia you have then try enabling the restricted drivers from (gasp! it's the gui !) system -> administration restricted drivers manager. This is the easiest way to do it.

If on the other hand it's an ATI card things are probably going to be much more complicated and I recommend you do not try that, as you could be rebooting to a blank screen. First you'll need to get more familiar with fglrx and how it is installed, configured and fixed the normal way.

-Edit just checked your first post and realised you have an Nvidia card. You can try it but people seem to have more problems with the old 4 and especially 5 series MX cards than the newer ones. If you do boot to a black screen there's ways to fix it, but you may want to post in the official forums for advice before you attempt it.