Installation instructions for Laptop

[Harish]

Hello,
I have a HP ZE4560 AMD 1.8GhZ Laptop. I currently have Windows XP on
my laptop however I am planning to install Linux on it. Could you
suggets as what Versions of Linux are stable and what are the
instructions to be followed while installing it. I have been told by
many of my friends that installing Linux on laptop is not a good idea
as it may make the systems unstable. Is that true
Thanks
Harish