Very Newbie question

[Longman, Bill]

Young Richard, flamebait this is. Easy the answer to this question is not.

Look at LTSP to minimize your headaches, but that requires a big central
server. A simple Gnome desktop gets them there with most of the apps they
need. KDE works, too, but it's got lots more hog factor than Gnome, so on
older machines, I'd opt for "tastes okay, less filling".

> Good Afternoon,
> 
> I'm playing with YDL as a way to leverage some more use out 
> of a bunch 
> of older iMacs we have here at our High School.  Since, I have to 
> admit, I'm also fairly new to Linux in general, I'm having difficulty 
> figuring out how to set up these machines so students will be able to 
> access network home directories and printers on our mostly Windows 
> network. My question really is this:  Which install (desktop? 
> workstation?something else?) will give kids the access they need?  Or 
> are there components I need to install outside of the standards?  Any 
> help will be much appreciated.