go here
http://distrowatch.com/
this is a listing of just about all linux didtro's available.
tells you what distro is stable and what is beta. you want the stable. also they list what packages come with each disro.
packages = software.
if you decide to install linux, might be a good idea to make it dual boot until you are comfortable with linux and everything works.
me, I use mepis linux
http://www.mepis.org/
install it and everything just works.