I want to install a gnome 2.2 or i'm open to any suggestions .on my drive single partion. i'm using xp now any help and sites to download from would help.would to install from cd. thank you

Gnome/GNOME is a desktop environment and not a distribution.

If you're new to Linux and want a simple Gnome-based distro, I recommend Ubuntu.
You may want to wait until Hardy gets released.

thank you i've downloaded it very cool

Be careful not to erase your XP partition, if you intend to keep Windows.

Defragment the XP partition and then use the Ubuntu installer to resize it and create a separate ext3 partition for Ubuntu.

Backing up any important data before doing this is also recommended.