[PD] Best PD+OS/Hardware combinations for low audio latency?

[Joe Newlin]

I want desperately to be able to process guitar in "real time" with PD.

I have a Sony VAIO laptop and Edirol FA-66 Firewire soundcard.

It seems that using Windows is not an option, since I get outrageously
high audio latency with PD, and a search through the mail list
archives suggests that the consensus is that this is unavoidable in
Windows.

I'm trying to get the FA-66 working with Ubuntu, but I'm not quite
smart enough to understand how to do this.

What I'm wondering is:

1. What OS/hardware combinations have you found to result in low audio
latency with PD?
2. Isit possible to accomplish this with Ubuntu and the FA-66, or
should I give up and try something else?
3. If it is possible with Ubuntu, are there other resources for
figuring this out, other than stumbling through web forums that assume
I understand more than I do?

Thanks for your help!

Joe