The 'need patience to run Linux' thing is not so true any more. In particular, Ubuntu is, from what I've seen, getting great marks from both new people and experienced Linux users alike. I know one guy using it who hasn't had to use a command prompt in the three months he's been running it!

I run Fedora Core 3, myself, and I find it very easy to use without having to resort to arcane commands. CDs and USB drives mount themselves automatically and unmount from a right-click menu command; Up2Date keeps everything you need installed and up to date without having to worry about obscure RPM downloads; OpenOffice and many other useful programs comes installed as standard; its inbuilt firewall control is both industry standard and easy to use.

Of course, there are plenty of other distributions out there. Everyone has their favourites. My real observation is that an arbitrary choice of which Linux distribution to use makes very little difference to your results. Most of them now have very well designed and full-featured interfaces, and you quickly get used to the differences between Windows and whatever you're using.

It's like choosing a car - once you discard the obvious losers and bad deals, most cars in a particular class offer similar features and you quickly get used to any minor differences between your old car and your new. It's not like choosing a car stereo, where it's difficult to tell the real difference between a lemon and a Rio Car...

Have fun,

Paul