I would suggest getting a "live CD" of a Linux OS
this way you could try out the Linux distro and determine what capabilities your PC will have currently and which ones might need to be addressed further, such as drivers, etc..

A live CD will run directly from the CD ROM drive without a need to install anything (it will run slow, compared to an actual Linux install - but great for testing the interaction of the OS and the hardware)

Do be advised____an .iso is simply an image of a CD
thereby the CD can be duplicated in exactly the same way each and every time, ie. the info on track 1292 is exactly what is expected always - unlike a typical CD burn process which is a bit more random
therefor you must burn the .iso file as an image rather than simply copying it to a CD
merely burning it to a CD just makes another copy of the .iso file
burning a CD based on the image gives you an actual usable CD from the .iso

yeah, probably not the best of explanations
but, if you use the help on the CD burning software you have you can determine how to make a valid CD from an .iso file

if you search, there are freeware type programs to create CDs from .iso images as well - in case your particular software does not include that capability

creating a usable CD from an .iso image is definitely the place you must start if you wish to pursue this Linux further

.......and the Live CD is by far the image you should be testing with first