>>5 Just out of idle curiosity... why do you state "Avoid Gentoo at all costs"? Certainly it isn't the OS I'd recommend for a first-time Linux user, Ubuntu and FC6 are far better options for this (as you've recommended)... but I'm intrigued why you say to avoid it so strongly.

(PS: Don't let the fact that I'm a Gentoo dev fool people into thinking I'm biassed... I don't let this position influence my decisions.)