IMO, Red Hat has a long way to go. I tried to install it last fall. It might have been easy if I was willing to just erase my entire hard drive and blow Windows off my system, but as it was I could never get the partitions set up the way I thought I was supposed to. Even when I got thru an install, then I couldn't get the video working (for X-). Then there were the impossible system lock-ups, on which the Red Hat book was useless.
I also think the hype about free on-line help from other users is very inflated. From what I could see on these newsgroups, there were questions put up which were left hanging. If you use a computer seriously, you don't want to wait a week for an answer to something. Bottom line is you gotta pay, so there is a rationale for Red Hat support. Just the software and only modest computer expertise is not likely to get you through it.
I do think Linux is the logical future for the masses. After I get my W98 upgrade I will try to install Linux again (after W98, cause as you know the W98 install will blow away Linux). I suspect the other distributions are not much better.
mbs