I am currently trying out various distros and the ones i found most useful are
1.ubuntu and its variants
2.opensuse
3.simply mepis
Of these i would suggest ubuntu or its variants because of its excellent hardware support -meaning to say that it recognizes your screen resolution automatically ,your network card and your internet connection and also detects all your windows partitions and files.The synaptic file manager helps in easy updates as well .As already mentioned by the other contributers you can manage your interface very easily.
U might also want to download the opensuse dvd and give it a try - it offers two different user interfaces which you can select and it did all the things i mentioned previously.The one reason i prefer ubuntu is the massive user base which makes trouble shooting easy and trust me u would need all the help u can get in the beginning.
Later on u might want to try installing a less "userfriendly" distro on an old computer using the command line - that is when u would really learn linux.Ubuntu will help u get interested and start.Good luck to u , my friend !