I've never tried SUSE but it does sound like it's really close to being usable by everyone. The biggest problem now is getting hardware support so you don't have to worry so much about what will work and what won't.
I've had Red Hat running on my computer along side WindowsXP, but haven't been able to switch completely yet. Too many games will only run under windows and there isn't a decent flight sim yet for Linux, although there is one being developed. Unfortunately Red Hat is discontinuing the desktop version and will only be supporting their enterprise linux systems (note that this does include a workstation edition) and is moving the desktop version over to Fedora Core. Fedora is basically just Red Hat with all trademarks removed and the newest versions of the included software. Fedora Release 1 is definitely not ready for the average user. I had trouble even getting it to see my video card (an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro) while Red Hat didn't have a problem at all. The next release of Fedora is looking a little better, but most users should look elsewhere for now.
I have tried Mandrake in the past but not recently. Has anyone around here tried it?
Also, for somone new to Linux, the CD based Knoppix or Gnoppix might make good intros. They run from the CD so you don't have to reformat your hard drive.
goates