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A very good synopsis can be found here. It will incorporate MATE, a fork of Gnome 2.32.

Gnome 3 is shiny, elegant and modern looking. It’s a sleek desktop but it comes with a few problems:

• It changes the way people use their computer
• It’s application-centric, not task-centric (you switch between applications, not windows)
• It doesn’t do multi-tasking well (you can’t see opened windows, system tray icons, etc..)

[...] So with this in mind, Gnome 3 in Linux Mint 12 needs to let you interact with your computer in two different ways: the traditional way, and the new way, and it’s up to you to decide which way you want to use.

For this, we developed “MGSE” (Mint Gnome Shell Extensions), which is a desktop layer on top of Gnome 3 that makes it possible for you to use Gnome 3 in a traditional way. You can disable all components within MGSE to get a pure Gnome 3 experience, or you can enable all of them to get a Gnome 3 desktop that is similar to what you’ve been using before. Of course you can also pick and only enable the components you like to design your own desktop.

The main features in MGSE are:

• The bottom panel
• The application menu
• The window list
• A task-centric desktop (i.e. you switch between windows, not applications)
• Visible system tray icons

As a user who switched to linux mint because of Ubuntu's adoption of Unity and Gnome 3, I really hope they don't adopt Gnome 3 without a Gnome 2 fallback

They are going to try their best to provide a Gnome 2 fork (MATE) which can be installed alongside Gnome 3 without conflicts. See the MATE section in this post:
http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=1851
If this works out and they match Ubuntu 12.04 LTS's further extended desktop support schedule, that means at least another 5 years of Gnome 2 if you want it.

Or there's always Centos 6.x or equivalent with 6 years Gnome 2 support.

Source?

Right here: http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php It's true Mint is popular, and Mint also comes on a DVD. The parent confirms it. Making the disc image of Ubuntu bigger is one of the ways it is trying to win back the users which have fled.

When Mint 12 comes out all you'll do is make a choice. The reason I'm using Mint right now is that they're taking time with the transition, so I'll be able to move to Gnome 3 (or not) when I think it's ready.

Linux Mint 12 “Lisa” will be released in November this year with continued support for Gnome 2 but also with the introduction of Gnome 3. ... Of course, we’re starting from scratch and this process will take time and span across multiple releases. Until then, it’s important we continue to support the traditional Gnome 2 desktop.

I think Mint is going to change to Gnome 3. Not Unity, but not much better.

http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=1845 -- scroll to the news section about halfway down the page.

Linux Mint 12 “Lisa” will be released in November this year with continued support for Gnome 2 but also with the introduction of Gnome 3. The radical changes introduced by the Gnome project split the community. At the time of releasing Linux Mint 11 we decided it was too early to adopt Gnome 3. This time around, the decision isn’t as simple. Gnome 3.2 is more mature and we can see the potential of this new desktop and use it to implement something that can look and behave better than anything based on Gnome 2. Of course, we’re starting from scratch and this process will take time and span across multiple releases. Until then, it’s important we continue to support the traditional Gnome 2 desktop. We’re likely to release two separate editions, one for Gnome 2.32 and one for Gnome 3.2. We’re also working in cooperation with the MATE project (which is a fork of Gnome 2) at the moment to see if we can make both desktops compatible in an effort to let you run both Gnome 2 (or MATE) and Gnome 3 on the same system, either in Linux Mint 12, or for the future.

So they have a long term plan to move to Gnome 3 with a sane interface that they are building from scratch and in the short term they will offer Gnome 2 versions and try to find a way to make Gnome 2 and 3 play nicely. Yeah, I think I'll stick with Mint. Ubuntu repository access but without all the stupid.

Trolling? You're the only one trolling here. Just because you don't like reality doesn't mean the people who are speaking are trolling. Please learn what trolling actually is and apply it properly.
And I quote from the Wikipedia page:

Installation does not support LVM or disk encryption.

Sure enough, installation has absolutely zero support for LVM or RAID. Sorry, but reality says YOU are the only troll here. Not only are you trolling in defense of Mint, but its seemingly a well known fact. YOU are by definition a troll; and based on your response, a brainless fanboy. The reality is, Mint does not natively support RAID/LVM during installation. If you can't RAID/LVM your installation at configuration, then anything else is an after thought.

As someone else pointed out, lacking support for LVM/RAID is well known.

If you need the support, you can always email the distro maintainers and ask for the feature to be included. And you're always free to recompile your kernel or find a 3rd-party repo that has the support you need. The rest is all userland tools, which can be installed with apt-get.

Let me know how well installing those packages during installation goes, before you've installed or even have the ability to install packages goes. And while we're at it, please let me know how you plan to install those packages when no filesystems are available. You seem to completely miss the point that support is critical at installation time. After that the fact is nice, but nothing but an afterthought - and frankly, entirely too late. Without such features during installation, Mint is simply not a serious offering for many Linux users. Oddly enough, they've supported it for what...perhaps a DECADE now? So what you're saying is, Mint is so advanced its behind a decade old Desktop OS? You're not really selling Mint well.

Mint is designed as a desktop OS.

Yes, and its now pretty common for desktop OSs to support RAID-0 and RAID-1. LVM is a nice have and if you insist on religating it to "workstation duty", that's fine and all, but basic RAID support is completely lacking during installation; which is after all, the most critically important place to have it. Without it, as I said, many users simply can not even begin to consider Mint as a solution. Furthermore, if you look, you'll find many "Desktop OSes", don't have problems support LVM/RAID during installation; Mandriva/Mageia are such examples.

Honestly, there is a lot of cool stuff I like about Mint. I seriously sooo want to start using it. But the fact remains, I'm forced to keep looking simply because its missing some pretty basic and critical features by today's standards.

Actually, Mint can be installed into pretty much any filesystem - you just have to set it up first.

For example (a bit out of date, but should still work):

http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=40961

LMDE is a good alternative maintained Linux that continues with the latest Gnome 2 not 3
http://www.linuxmint.com/download_lmde.php

I'm running Mint Debian Edition. I'd forgotten that I'd even chosen that version rather than the Ubuntu based one. It's a rolling distribution based on Debian Testing, but I've had no problems with it apart from having to get the wireless drivers working when I first installed it.

I'd recommend switching to the Testing branch of Debian, or adding in repositories for the latest builds of Firefox or Chrome's stable versions to your current setup. When you install the .deb for Chrome, the appropriate repository is added automatically to keep you up to date - not sure if it's any more awkward for Firefox.

I stopped using Firefox a couple of years ago, but I still try it out from time to time. Bog standard Firefox isn't very responsive on my wheezy little netbook, but Chrome with adblock is running great!

I've been thinking of switching completely to Debian, but the amount of work to get that running right as a modern desktop is daunting. I can do it, I have done it, but for example, to have a modern browser you either have to manually install it bypassing the package management (bad!) or use backports to get modern compiles of iceweasel. Neither is optimal.

What I fear, is that the proposed shorter release cycles are going to make Ubuntu break too often. That will turn off users, and they cannot afford to lose even more users after the 11.04 release.

If you find the thought of Debian too daunting (personally I find it a doddle but happy to accept not everyone is the same) perhaps you should look at something like LMDE. It's a rolling distro based on Debian testing but it includes the latest point-releases-disguised-as-full-releases from Mozilla et al. I run it on the "family PC" while my own laptop(s) runs Debian testing. LMDE has yet to break unlike the Kubuntu install it replaced which did so frequently.

Why not get the best of both worlds and use Mint Debian?

http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=1604

Linux Mint

May I point out there's Linux Mint for Debian XFCE for us to consider? It looks (and sounds) like a nice workstation OS, based on Debian testing. Arguably, the Linux Mint devs are competing head to head with Canonical, using Debian, while keeping a steady eye on Ubuntu releases.

http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=1725

FAQ # 2

2. Is Linux Mint switching to Debian?

No. Linux Mint is Linux Mint, it’s not based on anything per se. It provides different editions which include different upstream components. In regards to package bases and repositories, what’s happening today is that the Xfce edition of Linux Mint is switching two important things:

        It’s switching its package base from a frozen Ubuntu pool to the rolling Debian Testing branch.
        It’s switching its lightweight software selection to a more mainstream one.

I can't to speak to that specific poster, but, in general, the reason people are dumping Ubuntu for Mint or Debian is that Ubuntu is dropping the classic desktop choice in 11.04.

And that fact has been hashed out in almost every Slashdot discussion of Unity, including this one.

I like Linux Mint myself. You might give it a shot if Ubuntu and Unity is not to your liking.

http://www.linuxmint.com/

For those worrying about the LMDE's rolling updates breaking something, there's good news:
http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=1781

The Xfce version has moved to Debian (which you "strongly advise against")

I was peripherally aware of the Xfce version moving to LMDE, but it hadn't consciously registered. I've never actually used it, having used LXDE for my lightweight requirements, and Gnome elsewhere (as I find it to be the best overall insterface). The reason I strongly advise against LMDE for a newbie is that it is a rolling distribution, and is still not as polished as the Ubuntu-based distributions. The Linux Mint developers themselves say to only use it if you know what you're doing, and have just introduced LMDE update packs to make it somewhat easier for people who don't want to deal with the daily hassle involved in a rolling distribution.

Using Wubi or mint4win is not a great idea as mom probably has only one partition - resulting in her not being able to access any of her files from Linux. That's not the best introduction to Linux is it?

A wubi/mint4win installation can access the host partition - check the /host path. It would be simple to set up a symlink to her Windows Documents directory. It's always advised to have someone experienced around when installing any OS.

One of the real pains about Mint is that the GUI package manager doesn't allow you to change to a mirror located nearer to you ...

A very valid point. I also would like being able to configure an alternative server for apt via GUI configuration (my ISP has an unmetered download site that mirrors the ubuntu repos and I need to change /etc/apt/sources.list with each install) but it's a simple thing to change once when initially setting up.

I recommend Linux Mint, it's based on Ubuntu and Wubi, and it will always track Ubuntu (and Ubuntu will always track Debian), but it doesn't try to remain ideologically pure -- so it will have many of the most common drivers/codecs (even proprietary drivers/codecs) already preloaded onto it.

Here she can download it from this link. It comes with an installer and an uninstaller. It can run from a DVD/CD, but there is actually no need to even run it from there. I recommend you just use the installer and the uninstaller, it will run much smoother that way, it won't make any permanent partition (unless you want it to), and once uninstalled, it won't leave any traces of itself behind.

I recommend Linux Mint, it's based on Ubuntu and Wubi, and it will always track Ubuntu (and Ubuntu will always track Debian), but it doesn't try to remain ideologically pure -- so it will have many of the most common drivers/codecs (even proprietary drivers/codecs) already preloaded onto it.

Here she can download it from this link. It comes with an installer and an uninstaller. It can run from a DVD/CD, but there is actually no need to even run it from there. I recommend you just use the installer and the uninstaller, it will run much smoother that way, it won't make any permanent partition (unless you want it to), and once uninstalled, it won't leave any traces of itself behind.

Linux Mint is easily the most Linux-newbie-friendly distribution I've ever used. It also scales well to an experienced user. It uses an Ubuntu base (unless you use Linux Mint Debian Edition but I strongly advise against that for a newbie).

Depending on hardware capabilities there are heavyweight (Gnome, KDE) and lightweight (Xfce, LXDE) versions.

You can install it using mintinstall (wubi) from inside Windows (you need to use the CD version for this, but it's then very simple to upgrade to the DVD version once you're inside Linux Mint). Doing this means you can dual-boot without repartitioning - for your mum this sounds like the best option.

http://www.linuxmint.com/

try Linux Mint XFCE...you like commandline, rolling-release Linux distros are great. cool that Linux Mint steps away from Ubuntu Canonical and bases some distros on Debian instead. http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=1725 cheers!

Just to show how much of a disease stupidity is.....and that canoncial and KDE are not alone in making some really bonehead ones...

Take a persusal over to the LINUX mint KDE Edition (BEST KDE DISTRO, period!) testing site...

http://community.linuxmint.com/iso/view/73

Scroll down to:
Software Selection

OK, there's a few things that could be done better here. Again, this is going to frustrate some and please others. Like we did with the Xfce edition, mainstreaming will result in annoying the hardcore KDE fans but will bring more people towards this edition.

First, there are some apps in there installed by default than very few people might want. Second, some of them, some people might not even understand what they're for.... Tucan, Akkregator, DNG converter :) Then there's the issue of multiple apps for the same use case.. for instance, assuming you add lightning to thunderbird, you don't need kmail, kontact and all the PIM apps. Same goes with Firefox, rekonq, konqueror etc... if we were to target the power user we'd install everything in there, including opera, chromium...etc. But for the desktop user, we should provide only apps that most people need, and only one of them, preferabbly, the most popular and the least obscure ones :)

Remove Konqueror and Rekonq
Remove choqok
Remove frostwire
Remove kftpgrabber, akkregator
Remove kpat
Remove kipi-plugins
Remove xsane
Remove kmail
Remove KRDC
Remove Tucan
Install simple-scan
Optionally, install Dropbox, GoogleEarth
Replace Digikam/Photoshot with Picasa
Isn't there a default viewer in KDE4 for pictures? Do we need gwenview for this?
Remove AcetoneISO
Remove kaddressbook, kontact, korganizer, ktimetracker
Remove hplip-gui
Remove kmymoney
Remove software-properties-kde (software-properties-gtk is better suited, doesn't show tabs for updates and all ...)
There's a lot of apps the user will want to add to the default selection, and that's ok. We made this easy with the software management. Some of the niche apps installed by default (like KMyMoney) might appeal to many, but they're not there yet in terms of popularity, and for things where you think they might become popular it's important they integrate well with the desktop. Minitube is a good example of that. It's not very popular, it's a niche app, but it has the potential to be used by everyone and it integrates well with the desktop. If it didn't, then it should be there. AcetoneISO has it all right... almost... but it looks out of place there.
====

Now first off the ACTUAL DEVELOPER OF THE LINUX MINT KDE EDITION iS FANTASTIC!! THANK YOU BOO! This comes from the person who is the ring leader of mint and develops ths clonebuntu gnome infested version......

THIS WILL TOTALLY GUT AND RUIN THE TOP KDE DISTRO!

So making stupid decisions at epidemic levels of late...

As for the software centre they STOLE IT from Mint! (Created some bad blood with Mint over it! HA!) And quiet honestly its the most hideous thing... give me synatpic and apt-get any day..

>It is simple Slashdot editors don't like Unity

If this is really true, expect to see new Mint releases hyped like Ubuntu releases used to be.

If not, then not.

And that hope I offer is called Linux Mint:

http://blog.linuxmint.com/

If you are still stuck in the ridiculousness that is the Ubuntu development process, give it a whirl.

Sensible default app choices, sensible OS structural decisions, sensible layout and design. Try it. If you are anything like me, you will not use Ubuntu again.

And for the hardcore geek, Linux Mint Debian Edition is awesome.

Yup, that's Ubuntu before the suckage added.

  Or Unbuntu with the suck massaged out: http://www.linuxmint.com/

    Too light to contain suck: http://www.archlinux.org/

    Too tiny to hold suck: http://puppylinux.com/

    Got their suck fixed a few releases ago, it's all good now: http://www.fedoraproject.org/

    fixed their suck a while ago too, lookin' good: http://www.freebsd.org/
 
    supports all kinds of desktops that don't suck: http://www.mandriva.com/

    roll your own without the suck: http://www.gentoo.org/

Try Debian, Mint Debian, or Mint Ubuntu.

http://jeffhoogland.blogspot.com/2010/02/why-mint-over-ubuntu.html

Try Debian, Mint Debian, or Mint Ubuntu.

http://jeffhoogland.blogspot.com/2010/02/why-mint-over-ubuntu.html

Yeah, I'm pretty much in the same boat.

I do like some of the ubuntu derivatives, which seem to do a good job addressing the flaws in Debian and Ubuntu. Give Linux Mint a try... which is pretty easy since it's distributed as a LiveCD/DVD with an install to HD option. It's what I've been recommending to people for a while.

I've even migrated my main server to it from Debian (my one gripe is that the installer doesn't support software RAID configurations as readily, but I'm used to setting those up manually anyway).

The other one I like for netbooks is eeebuntu 3. Haven't played with their Aurora beta yet, but eeebuntu was pretty good with getting an nice fully-featured compiz-fusion environment on my eeePC with most of the hardware and powersaver features supported out of the box.

Ever since an automatic update of Ubuntu trashed its own partition to the point where it would not boot at all, I decided to switch to a different distribution but have not yet decided which because they all seem to have a different set of problems. Any suggestions?

Try Linux MInt. http://linuxmint.com/. It is based off of ubuntu, but I have been really happy with it so far. Hey it will only cost you a CD-R, try them all if you wish. Live CDs are a wonderful tool.

I'm thinking of trying Linux Mint Debian XFCE. It's a rolling release but still pretty new so I'm sure there'll be some crippling Achilles' Heel in it.

(yes, as opposed to an Achilles' Heel that doesn't cripple you when it's cut)

At this point one might point out that if you can't watch Hulu or Netflix (we're talking about OpenSUSE here), cannot put in a credit card number to buy or rent a movie from Amazon Unbox or iTunes, and must install separate pieces of software in order to watch DVDs, this OS may not be "broken" but it might not really be meeting modern consumer expectations.

So there exist Linux distributions that don't include Flash player or libdvdread in the default install. Either install them or use something like this that includes them by default.

As for Netflix and other Windows-DRM-using things, you might as well complain that you can't watch over-the-air TV on YouTube. You can't do it because Hollywood bought some legislation that prevents honest people from doing reasonable things. The only way to fix the problem is to fix the law.

Of course you could argue they shouldn't be paying money for content, and that the DRM is illiberal or something, but you're still keeping the customer from doing what they want to do and what other platforms don't think twice about forbidding for what are essentially elitist moral reasons.

In actual fact it has nothing to do with "elitist moral reasons" and everything to do with the DMCA and software patents. There is no technical reason why there can't exist e.g. a GPL DVD player -- they exist already. But they aren't included in most default installs because of legal stupidity. So I say again, you want to fix the problem, fix the law.

But I also want to say that I agree with you. Linux needs to support these things natively and seamlessly. It's just that you need to direct your efforts toward a different set of people. It isn't that SUSE needs to hire a cadre of programmers to get Netflix working on Linux, it's that everybody who thinks this is important should cut a cheque to the EFF so they can do something about it.

Except for Mint Debian.

i'd recommend Linux Mint over Ubuntu. it's any all around better desktop OS.

At least in my book, it went to Linux Mint. http://www.linuxmint.com/

Ah, yes, Linux Mint. The distro that can't even be arsed to sign its fucking repositories.

http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=1543

In the comments section, an anonymous person said: “The only thing that I really didn’t like is the same for all of the Mint systems and that is the poor security you get by using their unsigned packages and repositories.”

–> It is the same for all Mint systems indeed. It’s a feature though and it’s even a condition for our ISOs to pass the QA tests. Both the main Mint repositories and LMDE are signed and secure. The warning you see is because we set APT to allow unauthenticated repositories. This follows our philosophy that if you told your system to do something, it should listen to you and do it promptly. If for any reason you decided to add an unsigned repository, then Mint should accept it and do as it’s told. You already have a warning, if you don’t like it, use sign repositories, if you do already, remove the setting from /etc/apt/apt.conf. This default setting is there to warn people and to let them do what they want, as opposed to something that fails when you need it most. You’re not more exposed than on any other system. If something has the rights to modify your /etc/apt/sources.list it surely has the rights to modify /etc/apt/apt.conf as well. Warnings are good things and unlike errors they’re here to let you know about things without getting in your way. This is not poor security. This is a signed and secure system which lets you add additional sources, signed or not, the day you feel like it.

For those who want a Debian based distro Linux Mint Debian will be a rolling release. http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=1527

*buntu land needs to RUN, not crawl, not walk, but RUN FAR AWAY from the disease that is gnome and monoboi's other crap...

But alas they still don't get it..."Unitiy....will require composting...."

Would you please QUIT with the stupid wobly windows, spinny cubes and other crap!

For a normal desktop KDE needs to be the choice, and yes I will be the first to get the tar, feather, and pitchforks out over the debacle that is and remains KDE4, unfortunately its still the better of the regular X WM's... For lighter weight LXDE, XFCE, etc. are great... just not for me..

If you want to see what a PROPER *buntu WITH KDE can look like then report to KMint and enjoy...

http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=1495

You forgot this: http://www.linuxmint.com/

No pity for the Million Micro$oft Virus/Bots/etc. because smart people run one of the 452 stable, safe, secure, virus free GNU/Linux distros, or one of the 36 *BSDs! My tolerance for any businesses that run very vulnerable Micro$oft, thus risking customers, is now zero. If forced to deal with them, do cash only, with the 3% discount for cash! Get Linux or BSD! http://linuxmint.com/ http://distrowatch.com/ http://www.bsd.org/ http://linux.org/

Let me help you out... 3 pitches, 3 strikes.. your out...

http://www.konqueror.org/

Comes with a clean and secure OS at:

http://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=28

I'll wait until Linux Mint makes a release based on ubuntu:

I've been recommending it to friends as a nicer, friendlier, greener (yes, it's also Irish) Ubuntu that is not shy about providing support for proprietary video drivers and Adobe flash out of the box.

mint green > aubergine

I still run Debian testing on my primary box, though.

If you want Flash working out of the box try a distro like Linux Mint - it's basically a polished version of Ubuntu. Their version of 10.04 will be out next month.

Linux Mint aims to do just that ;). I switched after Ubuntu wasn't being transparent enough since what I love most about Linux is that we're (supposed to be) a community of people (in the Free Culture sense).

By the way, here's a car analogy about the button change which pretty much explains why I switched.

Matt. you *HAD* the PERFECT opportunity to answer the questions posed to you from hard core Linux users, and blew it...

I've been waiting for these response since the questions posting.....I am VERY DISAPPOINTED, VERY DISAPPOINTED.

1) KDE - "...to ensure your views are heard and the Ubuntu distribution remains one that you will enjoy using. "

You heard what WE, and I had to say on gnome...WE WANT KDE! KDE KDE ! KDE!

You chose to dismiss and ignore it.

I will continue to use a derivative distro, KMint, as Canoncial has made it clear they do not and will create a quality distro, a quality KDE distro, even with its move to KDE 4.x (ick).

Your own Kubnutu distro I have not been able to reliably boot in over 2 years. TWO YEARS! Theres no quality to this heap of trash! DITCH IT! You want to know what a quality KDE distro is head over to http://www.linuxmint.com/ and look at KMint. The KDE team there works wonders with what they get from Kubuntu. You should take note.

I have. My opinion, as its voice towards KDE, will be ignored.

2) Sound - "Works for me."

Again, dismissive, and not the path to take, especially for the new guy. FIX THE SOUND! DUMP pulse! I've found that your own community has done what, you Cannoncial has not, UPDATED the ALSA drivers to CURRENT version to solve the problems with the prevalent "HDA" chipsets. GET THIS DONE.

3) mono - Was not asked, so not answered...

You need to set this disease free.. Thankfully the KMint team REMOVES THIS disease and so should you. Its a shame that editors didn't wish to put the hardballs out there.

In summary, very disappointed, and I will not be looking to Canoncial for what I need in Linux, instead I will look to the KMint team to continue to produce what I want.

Disappointing, disappointing. Your chance to get off on the right foot, is gone.

I think Linux Mint is better than Ubuntu. It just feels more polished.

Two things:

1. Don't do it (unless they've asked and you don't mind a full-time job supporting them forever)
2. Linux Mint, not Ubuntu

Mint is based on Ubuntu, but comes with all the post-install crap already done for you. It has the bottom panel with menu button (not bar). It's nice and green, not brown.

My recommendation for older machines is LXDE on Ubuntu or Mint. It can run nicely in 128-256MB RAM.

I'll throw in my lot with Linux Mint. I'm a technical Debian user myself, so I may be a bit biased. But it looks like the easiest to install and get running. There's a pretty good LiveCD of it, so you can try it out before installing.

It's based on Ubuntu, but they're not too shy to include more of the non-free stuff pre-installed and configured, such as Flash and proprietary nVidia drivers. So you won't have to go look up howtos to get those "mainstream essentials" stuff working.

Also St. Patrick's day is coming up, so it would be a nice opportunity to drink and run an appropriately Irish Linux.

Mint is based on the Ubuntus, so it has access to the same software repositories.

The installer is pretty much the same as Ubuntu's, which means it's easy.

The one thing that Mint has over regular Ubuntus is that the Mint builders have included all the non-free, somewhat-proprietary stuff about which most FOSS purists get their panties in a twist. Having been a Linux user since the beginning, I agree with and fully support the idea of FOSS, GPLs and the like. In theory, it's wonderful, and it's brought a great set of computing tools to the world. But the Richard Stallman-influenced world of "only fully free is acceptable" makes no sense in the real world (well, maybe in Stallman's world), especially among the people the poster is attempting to assist.

Most Windows users/converts want stuff to just work. Leaving out multimedia codecs because someone has a copyright on it or because you're offended by the license restrictions doesn't help the user who doesn't understand those lofty concepts. Yes, people can learn about and and decide for themselves, and yes, hopefully, someone will come along and develop fully-free, GPL'ed versions of all the offending tools. But, in the meantime, people want their shit to work.

Mint comes as close to this environment as you're going to get. You do a basic install, and everything works out of the box, including just about any multimedia content you can throw at it. And the standard install has all the things you need: a messenger tool, Thnderbird for mail, multiple browsers (including Firefox), and office suites for all the Powerpoint stuff (OpenOffice is there by default).

I can recommend the KDE Community Edition for a number of reasons, the most important of which is that the KDE 4.3 setup in Mint 8 will provide a very comfortable interface for someone transitioning from Windows. Yes, people will have to learn a few things, like which app does which thing, but even the menu design will make that simple. The familiar toolbar is there, pretty much the way you described it, and adding desktop and toolbar widgets is a snap. This is a feature that will be a kick to a lot of new users.

There's no question that you might run into some issues with really exotic hardware, but those instances are becoming rarer by the day. As for customization, well, there's a lot built in for changing the look-and-feel around, and there's a lot of skins and themes available with a simple download.

With a very active on-line community, there are few issues that can't be solved.

Have a look at the LiveCD and see if you agree. I believe most of these users will be very pleased.

http://www.linuxmint.com/download_ce.php