LinuxMint
Linux Mint is a community driven distribution topping the third place in 2008 and still keeping its place. At the beginning Linux Mint was Ubuntu with integrated multimedia codecs. The project's core competency is being too close to its community. You can make a request online and may see it adapted with the mainstream release. It has its own configuration tools to make users lives easier and compatible with Ubuntu. One more recommendation for the newcomers. The latest release is Linux Mint 7, codenamed "Gloria."
Fedora
Fedora is one of the community distributions sponsored by RedHat. The distribution is easy to download, install and use. The Anaconda graphical tool allows the user to easily install and configure their system. The package management is strong and deploying software is very easy, as the distros. Fedora has the option to embed SE Linux (SE stands for Security Enhanced) during the installation which adds to an already secure system. The distro can also be installed as a server. But this time it will not install graphical user interface by default. This is another recommended distro for the newcomers and pros. Fedora’s current release is 11, codenamed "Reign."
Debian
Debian is regarded as the mother of all community distributions by some sources. It's history and development have taken on many streams, and as with the previous release, Debian developers have provided a graphical installation interface. Previously everything was done via the command line. However, switching the graphic installation needs a special command install GUI. Otherwise it will continue with a text-based install. Debian does not employ the latest software but rather the tested and stable ones. After the installation the system configuration is done with the making changes in the configuration files, which many of the newcomers find difficult. Therefore the distribution is considered to be more suitable for the intermediate level users or for the users who want to get a better understanding of the system. Current release is 5.0, codenamed "Lenny."
Mandriva
Mandriva is another distribution oriented towards the newcomers to the Linux world and can also be deployed as a server. Mandriva has three releases: One, Free, Powerpack and Flash. Mandriva Flash is for booting your system from your flash disk as the name implies. Mandriva One is like Ubuntu, which means in one CD you can test it as a live distribution, without any commitment of your hard disk or choose to install. Mandriva One includes proprietary drivers and browser plugins which makes it differ from the Free edition. Mandriva Free does not include any proprietary packages. Mandriva Powerpack is a commercial distribution and available through the sales channels. In addition to the commercial packages, it offers support and training. With the purchase, users gain access to the online Mandriva repositories for downloading new software. This is valid for one year which translates into two Mandriva releases. Mandriva has DrakConf, which is Mandriva's configuration tool. Within DrakConf users can customize their system to their system from mouse to networking. It's like openSuSE's YaST. Mandriva is one of the excellent distributions for the newcomers. Current release is Mandriva One 2009 Spring.