[Wlug] kernel choices in Debian

I'm planning on wiping out my SuSE 7.2 installation and trying Debian 3.0r0. The install manual says that kernel 2.2 is the default, and kernel 2.4 is an option. I can't find anywhere that says why I should choose one over the other. My SuSE is already using 2.4. Seems like it would be a step backward to install the default 2.2. Any ideas or suggestions? Thanks. Greg