I thought the linux client was still slower than the windows client?
Could be. I haven't done any scientific benchmarks, but I do have two similar systems (both of them are K6-III+/500) that are folding, with one of them running Windows and the other running Linux. Yeah the Linux one is a bit slower. Different motherboard chipsets though -- the Windows one is ALi, and the Linux one is VIA. IIRC ALi's Super 7 chipset was a better performer than VIA's, so that could account for part of the difference.
linux is a good idea, but i dont really have any means of getting it unless i download it.... i'm quite broke
Yes, if you are on dial-up that would be a big problem. If that's what is stopping you, do you know anyone with broadband who could download it and burn a set of CDs for you? Downloading and burning ISO images for the Redhat 8 CDs is a piece of cake (that's how I got mine). That article I linked in my previous post contains a link to Redhat's FTP mirror list... just pick the FTP server that seems to work the fastest for you.