So this has to be treated as a general guide. Wanted applications can be downloaded or purchased Possible scenarios 1. Suggestions - Red Hat, Mandrake. Red Hat is the most heavily promoted and popular distribution so friends and colleagues are most likely to be using it. So there will be people you can talk with.
Mandrake is a popular alternative.
Suggestions - Storm Linux, Corel Linux, Libranet. These are easy to install and setup, so the system gets running quickly. These are rather new distributions, Corel being only a few months old, but they are up to standard. A home office or small business user who is prepared to buy applications. Suggestions - SuSE, Caldera Open Linux.