1st use of linux

I've tried several distro through the time, and my favorite is Ubuntu. Ubuntu have a large community if you came into trouble. Ubuntu software center are very helpful for a beginner. I will recommend you to take a look at GNOME, it's looks awesome.

GNOME works well. I run GNOME-classic on U_12.04 with smooth uncomplicated performance.

I'd highly recommend that you skip the buggy mess that is ubuntu and all it's derivatives. They knowingly use buggy packages from Debian's Unstable branch and throw in a few gimmicks of their own and call it a day. The buggyness of it is sure to leave you with a bad impression.

Debian/Opensuse/Fedora are all pretty solid and easy to learn.

Correct me if I am wrong but didn't you just diss Ubuntu for using debian's unstable branch and then recommend debian which created the unstable branch?

I've been using Ubuntu for 8 years now and am happy as a lark. I'm also running Ubuntu server for a 100 computer network.

I think it is fairly clear that the stable branch of Debian is being recommended, not the unstable one. Unstable branches are just what they say they are and inevitably they tend to be buggy.

Well, Fedora can be a bit buggy as well...

ArchLinux is nice if you like the rolling release model, but it's a tad more buggy than even something like Fedora. It's more for the advanced users.

Ubuntu and Linux Mint are pretty close...Mint is a little closer to windows in GUI presentation and Ubuntu is a little closer to a OSX/Windows hybrid.

However, there are many distributions, and everyone will tell you something different. The good news is, at the end of the day, the software is free. I would recommend trying several out on a thumb drive and "test driving" for free.

Once you find the one you like, you can dig in a bit deeper. Anything based on Debian is going to use apt-get commands, Red Hat/Fedora based software use rpm, and ArchLinux uses PacMan.

Additionally, Fedora and ArchLinux will be more cutting edge, where Debian and Ubuntu LTS releases will be less cutting edge but more stability of the features they do use.

There's a lot to consider. I happen to like Ubuntu because it has a massive community, and Canonical support it very well. Plus it has a massive library of available software and libraries from the Debian side, and many of it's own as well (it feels somewhat close to windows as well). Though that doesn't mean you wouldn't like Fedora, as Red Hat support it very well too.

I've been using OpenSUSE 12.3 on my laptop, and with KDE, it feels very similar to Windows (pre-Windows 8) as far as usage. The only problem I have had with it is getting the wireless card working (Broadcom-based cards tend to be difficult to get working) and keeping the touchpad enabled.

Casey

1) Linux Mint
2) Ubuntu
3) Debian
4) Fedora

Minimalist distributions are attractive for many Linux users, but avoid them until you have a sufficient working knowledge of the shell and the console.

Although my reply is a little late, I felt I try to give you advice.

First of all, congratulations on your deciding to switch to a real operating system!

I will go ahead an clarify a few misconceptions as to what Linux is an what it is not:
1) Linux is just an OS kernel, not a complete operating system in the general sense
2) Different Linux distributions (abbr. distros) such as Debian, Gentoo, Archlinux etc. etc. etc. basically use the Linux kernel and build an OS environment around it
3) This environment typically consists of a virtual terminal, shell, and in many cases a graphical desktop environment (KDE and GNOME are popular choices)
4) Most distributions come with their own package manager, which allows you to easily search software dependency trees, and install software packages without having to resolve those dependencies yourself, e.g., "apt-get" in Debian/Ubuntu, "yum" in Red Hat-based distros, "pacman" in ArchLinux, "emerge" in Gentoo... the list is vast.

Now, wanting to learn Linux and using Linux are two different things. What I mean is, most "newbies" decide to use Ubuntu because it is the "newbie friendly" Linux operating system. The problem with this approach, however, is you are never actually exposed to the true power of Linux. If you ask an avid Ubuntu user to install a package from src in a tar.gz, they would be lost. They become dependent on the playground setup by Ubuntu' devs.

I myself started out using Red Hat w/GNOME, and did not really learn Linux until I decided to use Gentoo, which is almost like building a Linux distro from scratch (there is actually a Linux from Scratch distro to effectively build your own distro!)

Now, while Gentoo is great, it is also not the most usable OS, especially for newbies. In many cases, it would probably put off a new user from using it, since it is hard to use, and you have to compile everything from source. In fact you would probably have to install it several times before you even get something working, and then one command later you will likely blow up your OS and have to reinstall all over again!

I suggest Debian Linux, ArchLinux or CentOS. Debian is actually the distro that Ubuntu is based off of, without having the Ubuntu fuzz thrown in. ArchLinux is a great operating system to learn on, has a very good community and support both binary and source compilations from their package manager repos. CentOS is Red Hat based, and is also a very nice OS.

I would go ahead and do a little research on these different distros, check out their install guides, and see which one you like. Don't let the fancy GUI get in the way of what you can do with Linux. The command line is the most powerful tool you'll have.

Hopefully you don't TL; DR