I also learned unix (linux) on a intel machines. I also have learned when i tried to configure freebsd on my machine that not all hardwware was supported in the kernel. A very easy os to learn is suse on a intel. suse also supportets a bit different processor and on there page you can see which hardware they support. (
www.suse.com) is there home page.
http://cdb.suse.de/cgi-bin/scdb?HTML...m&LANG=ENGLISH if you have a fast internet connection you can download a free version somewhere.
http://www.suse.com/us/support/downl...t_mirrors.html you can find here somewhere the evalutions cd's (difference is that you have no support and less software on the cd and so you have to change the installation medium for cd to ftp if you want to download al the software). If you don't know anything about unix/linux/bsd buy a version with book.