Replies

I'd recommend SuSE 9.3 - just out. They have the best manuals, which can really help for someone coming to Linux from Windows. The "big" distros, such as SuSE, Mandrake and Red Hat, spend more effort on the details that can ensure success. Of late, SuSE has been leading these three for such uses.

I'd go with the KDE desktop technology, over GNOME, since KDE is a little more windows like, and since KDE has been a long standing strength of SuSE (though their corporate owner Novell also owns Gnome now as well ;).

One weakness of SuSE 9.3 is the limited MP3 multimedia support. See First Look at SUSE LINUX 9.3 Professional - Multimedia support... or lack of it for details. From that review, it seems that one can update to more complete MP3 support using the YaST Online Update (YOU) facility over the internet, after you install the CD package.

The previous version, SuSE 9.2 Professional is available at LinuxCentral.com, for $72.95. The lower priced ($10 or $20) packages won't include the good manual set, which is worth getting your first time.

The just released version 9.3 is only available from a few spots, such as DigitalRiver.com, for $99.95. If you want to wait a few weeks, I'd wager that other places such as LinuxCentral.com will have SuSE 9.3, for perhaps $10 less.

I want to thank everyone who has contributed here both now and in the future, be assured that I will look at every single suggestion given here and also do research on my own, so any thoughts given here will not be wasted.

This looks interesting Ark Linux

Ark Linux is a GNU/Linux distribution designed especially for desktop use, primarily for people without prior Linux experience.

Ark Linux is designed to:

...be easy to learn and use
...include many tools and applications

Ark Linux is fully Open Source and Free Software, meaning, basically, you can freely redistribute it in both modified and unmodified form.

Any thoughts?