[SOLVED] Can this upgrade be done?

Well actruly Slackware is probably more for just the challenge of it. If you want an aesthetic look try Ubuntu 9.10, its pretty User Friendly and it can be made to look really cool with stuff like compiz, clairo-dock open GL, and Google gadgets. Fedora 12 as I was led to believe was supposed to be more geared towards a good business distro by the creators of red hat, so I think you will get more of what you want out of distro's like Linux Mint, and Ubuntu 9.10 Ubuntu is actrully getting pretty popular, so I'm sure it has a huge repo. Even with your specs you should be able to pull out some pretty cool effects ( if thats also what your looking for ) Me, I personally love the cool effects like 3D desktop