Questions for a new configuration

[Maurizio De Cecco]

I am thinking about upgrading my studio, and this time i would move
from a Windows only environment to a mixed Linux/Windows one (sorry,
i cannot drop windows, i have 15 years of music stored in proprietary,
undocumented format, sigh :-<).

So, i have a couple of question:

1) Would Ubuntu Studio (or any Ubuntu, actually) works on a Core i7 processor ? I am specifically thinking to a noisy Dell Studio XPS.

2) Is there any reasonably priced internal or USB or Firewire sound interface with at least 8 analogues input that works with Ubuntu Studio
without too much troubles ?

Thanks,
Maurizio De Cecco