I am starting out in Linux for my first time and i'm wanting to know if the old Pentium D w/ p35 chipset will be compatible for most distros.  It will be my training computer as I learn Linux. I am not looking to run high end video or modeling.
Will most Distros run on an old pentium d?
linux;x86
Sure, a Pentium D is an x86-64, and all generations of this architecture should be supported by current distributions.With 32-bit processors, you can go back to the first 686 (P6 generation, i.e. Pentium Pro, without trouble. Previous series (Pentium, 486) are not supported by all current distributions at least you'll need a kernel that doesn't say 686. Recent versions of the kernel have dropped support for the 386 generation, so you'll need to fish out an old distribution for this.If you have a computer that's running Windows, you can install a virtual machine and play with Linux inside it. VirtualBox is a good choice of VM for this. A really recent computer may run Linux faster in a VM than a Pentium D, but the VM does slow things down a bit and can be cumbersome at times.Another way to play with Linux is with cheap hardware such as a Raspberry Pi. A Pentium D is more powerful than a Pi though, so I'm only mentioning this for the sake of future visitors with an older processor (such as a Pentium, which is slower than a Pi).