Best distro for first time user
 

I was considering Ubuntu but heard some bad things on another website so I was going to use Fedora 16. Its going on a Gateway M-2470 laptop. Will I be OK?

I can't find that laptop on the Gateway website, what are the specs of that machine?
Fedora is a fine distro, but more aimed at developers and people that like cutting edge software (and are able to fix the system if it breaks), IIRC.
I usually recommend Mint to new Linux users, but depending what your aim is with using Linux this may change.

If is a newer model laptop I will also recommend Mint and if you use the x86 dvd it will install the proprietary software such as adobe reader.

Thanks for the quick reply! Its hard to find that laptop on the site. Here is the model

Gateway M-2407H AMD Turion X2 RM74 3GB 320GB 15.4IN WXGA HD3200 Vista Premium Notebook Bilingual. For some reason nothing on getaway...I mean gateway...no I mean GEATAWY!!!!! website. I have heard of Linux Mint and my goal is to become just as familiar with windows based O/S as with Linux. I am on a long journey not a short sprint. Thanks again for your quick reply.

I have a somewhat similar laptop, Mint (and any other distribution) should run without any problems on that machine.

So out of the three I have looked at Ubuntu, Fedora, Linux Mint....not knowing anything other than they have similar windows GUI. Do you think Linux Mint is first choice.

Then, where is a good place to start reading/learning on this site. I want basics then basic I, etc.

Thanks again....really great site!

Nope they haven't. The default desktop environments are Unity (Ubuntu), Gnome Shell (Fedora) and Cinnamon (Mint). All of them are based on Gnome 3 but behave and look different than their counterparts. Besides that, any of those distributions can be installed with almost any desktop environment/window manager out there.

Depends on what you mean with basics. If it is how just to use the desktop environments their should be plenty of beginner guides on the net, if you want to get more under the hood you should learn the basic commands (http://linuxcommand.org/index.php) and the administration tools of your distro, for example apt-get (Ubuntu/Mint) or yum (Fedora) to manage your software installations.
If you want to learn about specific tasks, like file-servers, mail-servers, ..., there are also plenty of how-tos on the net, or you just ask here if you can't find anything.

For getting the best advice on this (and other) forums I would recommend to read the How To Ask Questions The Smart Way article (link in my signature).

Great, I will use Linux Mint and begin by reading the How To Ask Questions The Smart Way article. You will be hearing from me again, since you have been so nice to me. Bye for now.

LINUX MINT 12 (gnome3)
its easy and sexy.

Ubuntu sucks and is less polished
or OpenSUSE