I'd say no to Linspire. If you're not confident enough with your Linux skills, try Knoppix before, you don't need to remove Windows and can play with it whenever you want.
With Linspire, you'll be stuck with an OS you may not be intersted in. With Knoppix, remove the CD and reboot.
As a serious Linux distribution, I use Slackware and I like it's package system and the fact that I can use it without reading a thousand books before (but I'm not an expert, I just say that Slack is my friend)