who uses linux
 

what are some of the best distros to try out?

i want something like xp, nothing like apple or mac OS's.

i tried ubuntu and it felt like a mac clone.

one that has a live CD to test with would be good.

opensuse? mandriva? kubuntu?

Why not just use xp then?

yeah xp is great, but i haven't purchased it, and never will.

i'd like to move everything i use to open source freeware if i can, when i can.

linux is fucking gay

Ubuntu is one of the best I've used regularly in the past, but since you didn't care for it, I'd recommend giving Kubuntu a shot since it's KDE based rather than Gnome.

Fedora s'alright...had it on my work laptop to mess around with for a while.

Linux Mint also looks alright.

I use Linux Mint, it's great. It's based on Ubuntu, so you have few compatibility issues.

KDE Linux Mint es even better.

Kubuntu's just Ubuntu with KDE installed - just install that in synaptic or whatever and use it as your default session when you log on. It is more windowsy. Other distributions probably aren't going to feel much different to you to be honest, it's only really the stuff under the hood that changes