I have used just about all linux dists. Basicaly I test for easy of installation and if a linux noob could do it.
The two dists that stand out are the new Sabayon (gentoo based) dist, which is the most complete and compatable (with windows funtionality) out of the box. Everything works even DVD playback and all the main plugins for browsers. The biggest draw back is it is a custom compile on install and update so it takes a long time even doing simple updates seems to take forever.
The second dist is PCLinux OS (the one I currently use). It is based on Mandriva (2 years ago it was the best for noobs) which is based on RedHat (completely different development now). This is a live CD based dist. It installs fast and updates fast. It has all you need but most apps are installed over interent. There are draw backs you have to figure out Synaptics yourself and NVidia and ATI drivers have to be installed and activated through Synaptics and then Graphics server settings plus is that dvdcss is an installable package through Synaptics (This is the lib needed to watch protected DVD under linux. They do have a great forums area and the linux gurus seem to live there. Not as nooby as Sabayon.
