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Which system you choose to use and which one best suits your needs greatly depends on your experience, your specific needs, the kind of usage, whether it will be a desktop system, a server system, a laptop system, a general purpose system, a system for specific needs, and so on.
To pick even one system, therefore, requires consideration of all of these factors in order to choose the best system suited to your particular needs.
The good news is that there are a great number of systems that could serve both your specific and your general needs, even if that system is not the optimal system for every possible use case. In fact, the majority of major Linux distributions, especially the general purpose ones, will work well for nearly all uses, though certain distributions definitely excel in certain ways and are challenging in other ways.
The BSD alternatives, which descend in history directly from the BSD (Berkeley Standard Distribution), but are complete rewrites from scratch, are also extremely flexible and a strong case could be made that they possess many of the same fine attributes. The biggest differences are that the BSD alternatives are generally built as complete systems, not a collection of applications, tools, and system components. Advocates argue this is a key advantage. Opposers argue that BSD based alternatives are more difficult to set up, offer inferior device support, and are therefore inferior alternatives. The truth lies somewhere in between these extremes.
Given that introduction, what might work best? Well, there have been a number of very good suggestions, and quite frankly, if you like the description of any of them, why not pursue them and find out if any of them work out well for you?
Personally, I test out a great number of systems, and I also have a long background in both UNIX and Linux systems, so my preferences and interests do not always match those of other people. I do try to keep that in mind when I write about distributions, so let me offer my insights from a number of perspectives and allow each person to decide what makes the most sense for their own particular needs.
First, I have established what I personally feel are three of the easiest distributions to install and maintain, based on the simplicity of installation, the quality and stability of the software, the inclusion of the software most likely to be needed, the helpfulness of online resources, and the amount of ongoing effort to keep the system safe and reasonably secure.
Taking all of these factors into account, there are three Linux distributions that I believe are easier than any others in meeting all of the objectives outlined above. Here they are and why I like them:
1. SimplyMEPIS: This system can be loaded directly from CD and run from CD to see if it will work with your hardware. The software is so well designed that even when test releases are made available, most of the software works. Stability and quality are why I place this one in the top slot. Simplicity is the other reason why this one is good for someone starting out. A top notch MEPIS Lovers Forum, where people take the extra effort to help you out, arguments are rare, and helping people is given top priority keeps MEPIS at the top of my list.
2. Linux Mint: This is another very fine distribution, and it comes with more software than SimplyMEPIS. If you cannot find what you want in SimplyMEPIS or for some reason SimplyMEPIS does not work for you, then this may be the best option for you. Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu, but it is released after Ubuntu, and quality control is applied to ensure that software works. I do not feel quite as strongly about the forums here as I do with MEPIS Lovers, but it is generally a very good and helpful community.
3. PCLinuxOS: This distribution is a lot like SimplyMEPIS in feel and attitude; it is intended to be very simple to install. There is a good community of users and from that community, alternatives and variations have arisen. For the most part, that has been positive, but there has been occasional friction in that community and the software is less up to date than Mint in particular, but is generally of high quality.
What about Ubuntu? A lot of people like it. Some are critical of it. IF you are already thinking of trying Ubuntu, by all means, do so. The only reason I don't put it with the other three is that it tends to be a bit more cutting edge, unless you stick only with the Long Term Support (LTS) releases, in which case, the three above are at least as current and certainly as stable. If you want something simple, recognize that it is likely to change, and don't mind updating and upgrading more often, then DO go with Ubuntu. I just knock it slightly off that beginner list because: 1) That cutting edge nature may result in some things not working for the newcomer; that can be frustrating and a deal breaker and 2) Upgrading and changing often may not be something that the newcomer wants to deal with right away.
Other distributions missing my cut but worthy of mention for beginners:
Mandriva: In 1998, under the name Mandrake, this distribution really forged the way toward ease of use. In eleven years, we have come a long way and Mandriva has done a credible job, still a relatively easy to use system. I find it slightly less stable than the others I've mentioned, and that tips it just below my cutoff list, but it is still a great distribution. Hobbyists who are more apt to play really ought to take a look at the Mandriva Cooker to get cutting edge software! Beginners ought to shy away from the Cooker - stuff is apt to break, but if you want to learn by trial and error, in that case, GO FOR IT!
openSUSE: Similar to Mandriva in some respects, I just feel that there are too many moving parts, frequent changes, and things subject to breakage that I cannot recommend this as a top choice for beginners. It is, nevertheless, a very complete system, and some may feel that the trade-offs are worth it.
Fedora: This is a cutting edge system that paves the way for subsequent releases from its commercial counterpart, Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Again, I do not recommend Fedora for beginners because too many things are prone to break or need attention. It is, however, an outstanding test distribution, a great platform, especially for security enhancements and virtualization technology, so if those things interest you, don't rule it out.
Slackware: This is one great way to learn about Linux software. Slackware releases are always stable, and even though the installation program has not changed a great deal since the early nineties when it was first released, there have been improvements in the flow and configuration of the installation so that less post installation configuration is required than in the early days. I had to configure my own X server in 1995 when I first tried out Slackware; the latest version took care of that for me. The graphical environment (GUII) DOES NOT start up by default in Slackware; that is a deal breaker for some, but it is well documented how to cause the GUI to start by default. Great learning environment.
The lack of a default X server and the stability also makes Slackware one of the better choices for a server.
Debian based distributions are my personal favorites. Not surprisingly then, the Debian distributions themselves are among those worthy of consideration. Debian Lenny, the current stable release, is excellent for a server environment or even a conservative stable desktop environment. Debian Testing, especially with backport repositories added, makes an excellent choice for a desktop environment. Debian Sid makes an excellent experimental system, and if harnessed, it can even be used as a desktop system. I do not rank any plain Debian systems in the beginner category, but SimplyMEPIS, Linux Mint, and Ubuntu are ALL Debian based systems, and they inherit much of their goodness from the Debian attention to detail.
Personally I am not a fan of source based distributions; they consume a lot of time. There is nothing wrong with them whatsoever, and I would not want to discourage anyone else from using them. It is just that for me, whatever I can gain in added flexibility does not justify the considerable time needed to invest in them to tailor them to my personal needs, and since there are so many options that are very close to what I need, source based distributions do not make sense for me. They may be perfect for you, though, so don't count them out. Others have discussed why they work well for them.
I've talked about which distributions work well for beginners, provided a quick outline of a few of the major distributions, now I'd like to at least mention my favorites and why they are my favorites.
1. sidux: I am using sidux right now. It is an extremely fast binary distribution based on Debian Sid technology. I use some non-standard, non-sidux supported tools, especially smxi, which is frowned upon by sidux development, but for me, it provides me with a fast way to keep my system very current without having to constantly research what is working and what is broken. The base sidux system incredibly installs within a couple of minutes! A fully customized version that meets my needs still takes between 30-45 minutes to get just right, but the good news there is that this is a ROLLING RELEASE, which means you install it once and simply upgrade periodically. All that I can ask for.
2. antiX: This is a smaller release, out of the MEPIS family, that replaces the desktop environment used in SimplyMEPIS with smaller, lighter alternatives: two small window managers, Fluxbox and IceWM, and lighter applications and utilities. It comes in two forms: FULL, which includes both window managers and a basic, but complete assortment of applications and utilities and BASE, which includes the base system and a very light assortment of tools, from which you can build your own customized system.
antiX is based on Debian Testing repositories and SimplyMEPIS installation tools, but it includes the framework from which you can easily change it to a Debian {Stable,Testing,Sid} environment, and it includes the smxi tool that sidux developers have shunned. In some ways, antiX is one of the most flexible systems you can get. It gives you everything you need to turn it into whatever you want it to become, depending on which version you choose to install and what you want to accomplish, so it is a great starting point, and it has the same high quality found in SimplyMEPIS.
3. Being an experimenter, I always like to keep a simple, stable system, or several of them, available in case I create a blazing fire somewhere and destroy everything in sight! That rarely happens, but it is always wise to have a backup strategy. I use one of the top, easy to use distributions for my stable backup, and when I am busy and do not have time to maintain systems, sometimes I will leave it running as my every day desktop system, and that is SimplyMEPIS. It always works, it always installs, rarely presents me with problems, and I have a good rapport with the people in the MEPIS Lovers Forums.
I should mention that I actively participate in the testing stages of the SimplyMEPIS and antiX distributions, I actively promote both of them, and the descriptions I have given here explain my enthusiasm for each of those projects.
I was an equally enthusiastic supporter of sidux; I stopped that. Their interests and mine no longer coincide, but I still use their software because it works for me.
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