I had tried linux years ago, but I was unable to have the patience to learn it. I would like to try again. I tried Mandrake Linux back then, but noticed their website doesnt appear to work anymore ( redirect ).
I wanted to know, what distro is now good for the first time linux newbie wanting to learn linux?
Hopefully one that has good documentation for those installing it.
I may be installing it on a laptop with a Promise Raid array ( software raid I believe, it is a Sager 8790 laptop ) and would like to get a distro that will work with the raid array doing a duel boot with my presently installed WinXP Pro install ( I have partition magic for duel installs that I have used with Windows duel installs ).

Any help / advice is greatly appreciated as I would like to migrate away from windows to linux, once I feel comfortable in it.

I hav not tried laptops.
Easy to install one CD linux is Ubuntu.
You can try that or another one called Knoppix.
First to get a feel of Linux try versions of Ubuntu and Knoppix that run from the CD without installing in Barddisk. They are called "Live CD versions of Linux"

Prasad

Excellent, thank -you. I am downloading the livecd now for Ubuntu.

The one most like MS Windows is probably Xandros; It's good for beginner as it has some Xandros developed tools. It installs in 15-20 minutes and is hard to crash.

Then I suggest MEPIS, being most complete and still versatile (SimplyMEPIS)

Both come in free versions.

Why not download distros you can install from live cds? Laptops are tricky with regards to hardware. If the live cd recognizes the hardware you can go ahead and install.

Kanotix just released a new version and it is simply amazing. Took me just over 7 minutes to install from the live cd.

PclinuxOs, Kanotix, Mepis, and Knoppix are fine examples of live cds easy to install and newbie friendly.