Linux Mint http://www.linuxmint.com/ is easy to get around in plus you can burn it to a cd and boot to it if your Windows stop working and try repairing it or getting your files off the drive.
Mint or even Ubuntu would work fine. I spent a day trying out a half dozen or more versions of Linux, it was kind of fun. Now if someone’s Windows are corrupted, that ain’t fun or easy to fix.