Which distribution of linux should I put into my laptop?

I wouldn't say to stay away per se. While they are highly advanced, I'd say it's quite manageable, even for a beginner. I managed to install Arch in Virutalbox with absolutely no assistance, and I'm quite new to Linux with the exception of Ubuntu (which I've used for awhile now). There's hundreds of articles related to the installation process online. Gentoo is quite a bit more difficult from what I've heard (never tried it personally). Honestly, Arch is great once you get it set up. If you're keen on learning a whole bunch about Linux, either of these suggestions will force you to do so.



All the "popular" distributions (such as the ones listed here as well as in my post) will get you up and running with very minimal work. Will you learn much about Linux in the process? Probably not. However, they are a great way to submerge yourself into the Linux world without any prior experience. From there, you can start to fool around and expand your knowledge. If you just want an out-of-the-box, easy to use distro, I'd say Ubuntu, Mint or PCLinuxOS would take the cake. If you want something a tad more advanced that's still very easy to use, Fedora would be a great choice.

The problem with asking "what is the best distribution given these constraints" is that there are hundreds of different distributions, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. Some people like a certain desktop environment, while others do not. Some people like certain package managers, while others do not. I always like to suggest that people download and install VirtualBox, and then test out half a dozen different distributions before even thinking of doing a full install. I find that this way people can familiarize themselves with multiple distros without committing to a full install. That's just my $0.02 though.