You definitely should try the newest version of Ubuntu on your PC Steve. The download is a single CD ISO and that contains both the live CD and the full HD installer. And to install to the HD it boots into the live version with an installer icon on the disktop, so the install process is actually running from within itself. Quite a cool idea and it works much faster at installing than any other Linux distro I've tried so far. I can see why everyone like it so much.

It is quite a light setup with just the core set of popular applications and utilities, but everything is there for the standard desktop setup, including open office and GIMP. An average home user probably wouldn't need to add any other programs.