[cd34]

you could start with knoppix.net and download a liveCD -- and run linux right from the CD without having to reformat.

If you are moderately comfortable with Windows, and want something that will just 'transition' then you probably want to take a look at Xandros. Xandros Deluxe is $90 or so and includes Crossover Office so that you can run windows applications. If you're not comfortable grabbing Xandros from the p2p networks, I can put the non-deluxe .iso up somewhere for you to download. I think they use bittorrent.

Novell has a version (Suse) as does Sun that are fairly user friendly. Sun's version is very dependent on Java (big surprise there), but, is quite well done.

Personally, if you want something windowslike that is reasonably easy to master, Xandros is probably what I would recommend.