[tweetiepooh]

For Linux, Mint is pretty good, most things just work and the desktop (Cinnamon) is very nice BUT there is a spat developing between Mint and Canonical who make Ubuntu on which it's based.

I use OpenSuse and a new version is out soon. You may want to check out OpenSuse Tumbleweed which is a rolling distro, updates are a little tricky (you should use a command rather than the desktop app) but because it's a rolling distro you never need to upgrade it. KDE is a great desktop but does need a bit of oomph to use fully and properly.

What is nice about Linux is you can use live distro's to prove all your hardware is compatible before you install it. Some people can get quite excitable for and against certain hardware depending on how the vendor supports Linux (open/closed source drivers).