I'm sorry for posting another 'which distro is best' kind of question, but I wasn't finding much help on the web.

Here's my thing. Recently, a friend of mine gave me an old computer of his because I didn't have one. This computer is running Windows 95, and I'd like to try Linux. I need a distro that will work decently with this older computer:
  • 150 MHz Intel Pentium processor
  • 1.2 GB hard drive
  • 16 MB RAM, upgradeable to 128 MB
  • 28K modem
  • 8X CD-ROM drive

Now, I know that upgrading this computer would help, but I'm not in a finacial position to do too much. I'd really like to know if there's a version of Linux that won't be too bothered by an old computer. I'll be extremely happy if my computer after getting Linux will do the following:
  • word processing
  • C++ programming
  • web browsing and e-mail
  • AIM

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also, please let me know how much time I should schedule to install Linux. Thank you.