Bump for ubuntu.
I am big on debian-based package management, and after seeing the support that comes out of the box with ubuntu, swung all my home machines over to that. Since I estimate my carputer hardware will be able to handle GNOME, I plan to first try ubuntu there.
I have tried gentoo in the past. (
https://scifi.homelinux.net/mediawiki/index.php/Gentoo). My only gripe was having to wait awhile to try out anything (due to having to compile it).
If you are playing around with live CDs, knoppix is much faster than ubuntu's live CD. I always have a knoppix CD sitting around to use for rescue purposes.