Best Linux Distro?

[BrianG]

I am is sore need of a new computer. My current one (Athlon64 2.8GHz single core socket 754, 2GB DDR RAM, WinXP, etc) is long in the tooth.

I get discounts at work for various vendors (Dell/Alienware, HP, Mac, etc), so I've started looking for an inexpensive box (no monitor/speakers/etc) that can be upgraded in the future. My current box would need new everything, so there is no point in trying to upgrade.

Anyway, all the new PC's come with Windows7. Well, not Mac of course, but I don't want to pay premium price for not-so-premium hardware, not to mention Apple's holier-than-thou attitude. However, I really don't like Win7; I've been using it at work (no choice) and it seems like it was built just for noobs. Everything feels like a web interface, the control panel layout sucks IMO, and I still miss the old explorer shell.

So I was thinking of dual-booting Win7 (for the few games I do play) with some version of Linux. I've been reading comparisons and they all seem to be pretty inuitive now, but these comparisons leave out hardware compatibility. I've tried Linux a few times before and always had issues with hardware/drivers. Some stuff has Linux drivers (like aftermarket video cards), but haven't seen much for OEM stuff.

Any suggestions?

EDIT: Oh, and if anyone has a fairly current (Intel i5 quad core or better, >=4GB RAM, PCIe graphics, SATA drives) computer they want to get rid of, I have some items in my FS thread (link in sig) that I can use as trade...