Another site you might want to try is DistroWatch.com. They basically count how many hits each pages gets and then compile them (which really does not tell you much)

The nice thing they have is a description of the top ten distros, including some pro's and con's. It might be helpful (and informative).

If you're planning on dualbooting, I strongly recommend you partition your drive using Partition Magic in Windows. That Disk Druid rubbish that comes with the Fedora Core installer isn't worth the frustration it causes you.

I'm not so keen on Fedora Core 3 anymore, it's slow and bloated, but easy for beginners (basically me - I've been pure Windows for 11 years, this is my first venture into Linux). Can anyone tell me if Slackware's worth it? I've got 10.1 on CD somewhere.

I'll be honest with you. imho, I've yet to see any real reason to switch exclusively to Linux. Sure it's apparently more stable, but it just doesn't do what a home user requires, I've found. It is nice for a change though, but Windows just feels more professional, solid and efficient. It's also so much faster on my old PC (dualbooting Win2k Pro with FC3) it's untrue.

Sorry guys, there's my "2 cents".

I second the Mepis idea. Mepis is great, you can use Synaptic to install programs and it will also ask you to install dependencies, which is VERY helpful. Mepis is just great!

Ubuntu is great, it's the new #1 distro on DistroWatch, has a great support community. It uses Synaptic like MEPIS, also it is Gnome based, but if you want KDE you can install the (slightly less mature) Kubuntu package (packaged KDE desktop for Ubuntu).

PS, don't go with Solaris. I use it in the labs in school and it's not a lot of fun. Also AFAIK it's x86 performance is somewhat lacking compared to how it runs on Sun machines.

i'm still waiting for my Ubuntu CD to come in. you can order CD's for free on their website (they even pay shipping!), but i have yet to receive them. i'd download it, but my connection in my dorm is slow and unreliable. the site said they'd start shipping around mid april, but i'm still w/out my cd :(