I have made a lot of user switch to Linux. My first recommendation will be either Ubuntu or Mint.<p>I have tried many distros over the time and I liked Arch Linux for quite some time. But the problem was reliability. I spend my productive time fixing an issue or trying to isolate the issue or fixing PKGBUID to install a package.<p>Ubuntu on the other hand was my backup in case Arch crashed.<p>My Linux experience can be titled  &#x27;From Ubuntu to Ubuntu&#x27;.<p>Now I believe using a stable distro is really productive unless you have lots of time in your hand.<p>I like Ubuntu except the Unity part. No problem. Install Xfce and live happily.