Ubuntu

Open Source.
Always keep a Linux partition to backup your files, specially UBUNTU, the most friendly one.

I've tried for more than 5 years (about 6-7 times) to install various Ubuntu editions. Not once have I been able to connect to my wifi. I've tried everything: USB booting, cd-rom booting, buying different cd-roms (4 times), looking for answers on the internet (from outside Ubuntu, obviously), entering numerous commands in the terminal as suggested, connecting via hardwire to perhaps seek a solution, editing my connection a hundred times: Results -WiFi connection, NONE. I give up; screw Ubuntu and Linux. Don't expect widespread acceptance when the most basic functionality is so difficult to obtain.

I just want to thank open software community for help they provided me in my way to became linux user.

By far my favorite Linux distribution. This is a great Linux for a newcomer to start with and stick with. It doesn't get simpler than Ubuntu and it is a fully mature operating system. Suitable for all uses.

Ubuntu is the best Linux experience I've had with a fully-loaded OS complete with eye-candy. It wouldn't quite run smoothly on my Thinkpad X30 with 500Mb RAM, though, so I switched to the lighter-weight Xubuntu and that's been fine.

It's an ideal choice for anyone who is not going to whinge about it not being
Windows. It's not Windows. And I feel, whatever the fanboys say, that you're going to get the best experiences from it if you already have some grasp of what Linux is about and aren't scared of using the terminal to issue command-line instructions. Otherwise, I think you'll be heading off to one of the many helpful Linux forums to resolve your questions, at least for a while after your first installation.

If you're going to rate it based on how it performs this or that task as compared to a version of Windows, you should stick with Windows.

But comparing the current edition - Lucid Lynx 10.04 - to any other flavor of Linux I've used in the past, leaves the competition standing. Ubuntu is a deserved leader in its field.

Those areas in which it needs attention, in my opinion, are inherent to Linux and the attitudes of developers to Linux rather than a Ubuntu-specific thing. It is still assumed that you're going to be tolerant of some shortcomings that would irritate most Windows users. But if you can live with a few of these shortcomings, you'll find that Ubuntu is a Linux you can enjoy.