Hi there,
Most Linux Distros are free to download . I got Suse 10.1(as free download) and 9.3 . I took Suse as i am still in the experimental Stage on Linux ...but managed to be a regular user by now. Fedora is another good Choice and Ubuntu (which has Gnome as default desktop environment ) or Kubuntu (that has KDE as desktop environment as default ) . Both of them can be ordered online free and will be shipped to you free too . Debian is a bit difficult for beginnners i found ...but that was awhile ago so things mostlikely have changed there. I tried Mandrake Linux too (now it is called mandriva) i found it also quite decent .
Hope that helps you with your choice,
rcm
