I've been on mostly Ubuntu for a couple of years
Mageia looks like my replacement
I like the community & that it is on the redhat/fedora side of the street, without being in the pocket of a corporation, like Suse/Ubuntu

I can do a few things
like follow specific instructions [copy n paste] on a terminal
modify a configuration file [ after saving a copy]
give detailed feedback for when a procedure breaks down
I don't mind running a test build on a virtual box

I'm about  to do a proper install of magi 1 on a 
HP DC5000 SFF
2.3 ghz
1g ram

Garthhh