I would recommend SUSE Linux 10.1. Very easy to install.
However after installation certain softwares need to be downloaded and installed like win32codecs.See details at
http://www.thejemreport.com/mambo/content/view/254
Linux is more difficult than Windows to learn, but you will get a good experience
Also make atleast one partition as fat32 to be commonly used by Windows and Linux.
Other useful links
http://www.comptechdoc.org/os/linux/..._ugfilesp.html
http://packman.links2linux.org/