I'm currently using the first PC I have owned in years. I can't stand win7, so I decided to try Linux, something I've never done before. I'm in my early twenties and was brought up on Macs from System 6 to Mac OS 9, my first computer being a Performa 6320. Even though I feel comfortable using the GUI, I am completely alienated by the thought of using a command prompt. I look at the instructions for downloading SheepSaver and it just seems like another language I've never learnt.

I was wondering if someone would be able to give me further assistance, any help is much appreciated.

Hi,
like you, I am a command line hater! I disliked shells since the Amiga days :-)
Luckily, modern GNU-Linux OS can be run absolutely without command line interfaces.
I have to admit though, that the CLI is the most powerful tool on GNU-Linux.

First, I would try whether your PC could boot the iBoot CD from tonymacx68.com .
If yes, you might succeed in installing Snow Leo. Some old ASRock and many newer
Gigabyte boards could be recommended for 10.6 and Apple´s software is only $29.
Tonymac has recommendations at his site.

If that is not an option, I would take a look at http://www.mandriva.com/en/downloads/free/
The Installer will usually set up a dual boot system with a bootloader for Windows and Mandriva,
as Windows is already on your HDD.
The Mandriva DVD is bootable, so you may take a look whether you like it, before installing.
Once installed with Windows on one HDD, it may be complicated to remove GNU-Linux again.
After installation, the emulators can be easily added to the system from Mandriva´s server.
No need for CLI here. The install is done with a nice GUI. There is a "Emulators" entry to select some.
Adding files to your system, you might also search for "ntfs" and "hfs"(without the quotes).
You can select the software to write to such files systems, in case you would like Mandriva to write on
Windows NTFS or Apple HFS drives.
By default you can only write to foreign file systems, if they are FAT formatted e.g. thumb drives.

Afterwards you can download a more recent SheepShaver from Cat_7 and inflate it on your desktop.
Only one Linux sytem file must be edited by copy/paste as written in the guide.
Pasting can be done like this: Select text with the left mouse button, place the cursor at the bottom
of the text file you have to edit, press middle mouse button, done.
Shouldn´t be a challenge for you.
Best wishes!

Wow, those are drastic suggestions

Just download one of the ready-made SheepShaver builds and uncompress in your home folder. Please follow one of the guides on how to acquire a suitable rom file and make sure you have an bootable cd rom or cd rom image for a supported Mac OS.

It will indeed be required to edit one file, but if you open a file manager as root you should be able to edit the file without using the command line.

Best,
Cat_7

Yes, drastic maybe.
For a Mac guy, only wanting to run Classic on Intel, OSX and SheepShaver (or COI) would be the most easy way in my opinion.
Of course, only a few non-Apple boxes can be used for OSX, but it would be worth a shot, especially if you dislike 7.

As Cat_7 said, the easiest way is to just read a setup guide. For example:

http://emaculation.com/doku.php/ubuntu is fairly straightforward (don't worry about the URL... it is not just a guide for ubuntu)

Or maybe this guide:

http://emaculation.com/doku.php/basiliskii_linux_setup

Those guides don't require you to do anything tricky.

Probably be better to use Mageia now rather than Mandriva.