which distro?
 

I would like to change over completely to linux, but I am not in to all the command line stuff, I just want an OS to replace Windows. For example when I try to download applications from the net as a rpm or tar I get lost. Is there a distro which auto installs downloads. I would also like it to auto detect a usb card reader I have bought recently. (I am currently using Suse 8.2)

as for a distribution that downloads and installs packages automatically, there are a couple. Have a look into Gentoo (which uses portage, so you can just type emerge <program>) or look into Debian, where you can use apt-get. In both of these distributions it also downloads and installs any dependancies.

Of course it doesnt always work perfectly, but both are very good distributions. I should point out now however that neither installation is easy, and getting a Gentoo system ready for daily life can take days just to install. Debian is also supposed to be a nightmare installation (but that very much depends on your knowledge of computing)

downloading rpm's shouldnt be difficult. They are more or less the equilavent of SETUP.EXE in windows.

as for hardware detection, that can be different for each distribution. Iv always had problems with many things that rely on USB ports (which is probably why M$ like people using USB hardware) but its difficult to tell.

SuSE 8.2 is one of the easier distributions, along with RedHat and Mandrake. Mandrake is arguably the easiest to configure.

remember, if all else fails there is always this forum to help :) Just remember that Linux is not windows, which a lot of people fail to realise at first.

if you are knowledgable enough to recompile your kernel that is the hardest part to getting a usb stick working other than that they work just like a hard drive, when recompiling your kernel add scsi emulation under the field of ata/atapi/ then add usb mass storage under the usb field then reboot with your new kernel and mount it with
mkdir /mnt/sda1
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1
and the usb stick will be just like a hard drive under /mnt/sda1
for info on recompiling your kernel go to http://www.linuxselfhelp.com/HOWTO/Kernel-HOWTO-2.html
since this is a bit off topic if you didnt understand all of that make a new thread and I or someone else will be happy to explain it in clearer and easier detail, i just dont have time right now

Moving to Linux - Distributions

Have you considered Xandros or, dare I say, Lindows?

Cool