Q: With all the distros out there, what version of linux for PCs is the most "user friendly", "easy to use" for FREE Linux? The reason I say free is because at my old job I installed RedHat Linux with Fedora and played around with it. But it was a CD my company actually paid for and came with support and everything. This is the one I am familiar with. Suse and Montevista are enterprise class. Some are even "hardened" for telco use. Not what I'm looking for. Xandos I've played with on the famous Asus eee PCs. Very nice, kid friendly but as far as I know only comes with the eee PCs. For you linux gurus out there which is the easiest to install, navigate, has easy to use desktop? I heard hardy heron from ubuntu is one such version. what about mandrake, debain etc? I heard there's a version out there, can't remember which, which is definitely geek territory. Geek with a lot of time on his hands I might add. It's ok if a version blows away windows on my PC. it's an ancient old laptop and needs new life anyway. I think I can get Ubuntu as a live CD. Not familiar with the term does that mean I can boot up from the CD w/o touching my original OS? Or does that mean it will go ahead and install itself on my HD and wipe out my original OS (don't care if this is the case).
A: I'd definitely suggest Ubuntu as it was built with end-users in mind, specifically to make Linux accessible for normal desktop users. However, if you want to install it on a laptop be sure to first check its compatibility with Linux on a hardware compatibility page (like the one below).