Hi there. I’ve decided to finally set up a duo-boot Windows/Linux, and I’m trying to decide what Linux distro to use. I’ve had Vector Linux recommended.
I want:
i use gentoo and i recomend it for anyone cause it gives you flexibility to use almost any piece of software.
I use Gentoo as well, but I always recommend people trying out linux for the first time to start out with something like Ubuntu before trying to tackle something like Gentoo.
Thanks for the advice - I was hoping for something a little more minimal than ubunto, but I have heard quite a few good things about it.
well… try XUBUNTU because the minimal option depend of the desktop enviroment.
If your bold Gentoo is ideal for minimal you can select only the packages you want, for light GUI’s I’d recommend OpenBox which would run blender nicely and isn’t much more than basic X. Kaboot Lite is a stripped down Gentoo but currently there is no installer.
Hanni
Minimalist? “Damn Small Linux”, Debian based and about 50 MB in size. Runs like a rocket on a decent machine.
Fast and Easy? “Kanotix”, super easy install/config, and just the right amount of apps included.
I’m using Ubuntu on a couple machines at the moment. I like the Gnome look, and it’s easy to set up, but it feels slower than the other two above.
As far as customizing goes, Gentoo is the extreme. You get full customizability in every way: kernel, software, optimizations, everything. If you want a KDE Desktop, so be it. If you only need a console, well, then you’re practically done after the installation. The one - and only one, as far as I’m concerned - negative side Gentoo can have is compilation times; it took me one whole day to compile KDE, and I have a 3GHz CPU. It doesn’t have to be a problem, though; just put the compilations on before you go to bed. 
Ubuntu is the complete opposite of Gentoo. After installation, you’ve got a nice (some may say bloaty) GNOME setup (or XFCE/KDE if you chose X/Kubuntu) in front of you. You have much less (believe me) control over your system, especially if you’re new to linux in general.
I use Gentoo, but there are more options for customizability. If you want the power and knowledge over your system like Gentoo gives you, but don’t want to spend half your time waiting for packages to compile, Arch Linux is a very nice hybrid between the two. You have the same power, but with packages; I’d say it’s the best of the two worlds. The only backside of Arch I’ve found as of yet is its lack of packages; they have the most common ones (and uncommon ones, like SLiM), but as it is a fairly new distro (but a quickly growing one), you can’t except that much on the package side.
X/K/Ubuntu
You can’t go wrong with theese distros.
Freespire?
ducks
Not exactly minimal (by any means I guess:) but SUSEs latest is worth a shot - Blender, Wings etc all work no probs and the non OSS add on disc can even get you all the codecs etc with minimal faff…
Another vote for Gentoo as well though as use it and it offers max flexibility…
Dynebolic live cd - with blender ready!!
Can be run as live cd or full install just copy a folder into a hard drive and you done!!!
I agree with Social, but of the three Kubuntu is my favorite.
PCLinuxOS seems pretty newbie friendly. I’ve got it running on my laptop, and I dual-boot on my desktop.
Just a note on Ubuntu/Kbuntu - if you use XWings as well as Blender, Erlang is broken again in the latest release…