I've been playing around with
Linux Mint since version 8 was released last week. I'd been using just plain Ubuntu for a while on my laptop. I can say that for a new user coming from Windows, Mint would definitely make the transition easier. It's a little more user friendly in some aspects and has more of a Windows feel to it than plain Ubuntu.
I'm still iffy on it myself, but I'm going to give it a try for a while. I'd just gotten used to the standard Ubuntu desktop, so it's taking a bit of adjusting to where things are now.