I just switched from XP to Ubuntu about a week ago. I didn’t like Ubuntu for a lot of the same reasons I didn’t like Vista. I decided to give Open Suse 11.0 a try, and so far I really like what I see. I don’t know much about getting it to work with my wireless router though, or how to rip/burn CD’s, or install programs. I know that as I continue to use Open Suse, I will have more and more questions. Are there any books out there that you would suggest to a beginner like me? Unfortunately I am not a techie or a geek, although I would like to educate myself as much as possable so I can turn others on to this awesome distro. Thanks ahead of time for any suggestions, help, etc. 
If you purchase the retail openSUSE 11 box, it comes with a thick printed manual, a DVD with both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, and case stickers.
Other than that, I would recommend the Wiki for documentation. Also each software program (like KDE) has documentation on their sites.
As you come across questions, don’t hesitate to post them here. I’ll answer that I can!
Edit: As you’re new, I recommend you try out KDE 3, KDE 4 and Gnome separately and come to your own conclusions, but I personally find KDE 3 to be the best. Did you figure out how to get codecs installed, and your video driver?
Codecs? What is that? 
Codecs tell your computer how to encode or decode media files. Without codecs you can’t listen to MP3s, play DVDs, or watch video files.
Codecs often deal with proprietary formats, so some people insist on only using open standards. Because of this, most Linux distros don’t ship with them installed by default.
However, a 1-click installer can take care of that for you.
I think all that auto-detected during setup. Anyway, everything seems to work fine as far as playback goes. I’m still trying to figure out how to import my CD collections though…
The codecs don’t install by themselves. Your hardware should be there, but you need to install the codecs manually normally.
Are you using Gnome or KDE?
Google “Linux CD Ripping” and pick an app.