A new Linux recommendation

[markw at mohawksoft.com]

I know this will spawn a holywar, I've got a problem. Its time for a 
Linux upgrade. I want to compile GimpShop and I need a newer version of
the Gtk++. Just not worth the work, I'd rather just upgrade.

I was a RedHat guy, 4.x to 9.0
Then I used Mandrake 10, 10.1, and 10.2

I currently have Mandrake on my day to day work machine.

I have Slackware 10.1 on my remote servers.

I just bought my son a Mac iBook, and it is soooo cool.

Is there a really good, complete, workable Linux distro that can be
downloaded ?

Recommendations, pros/cons, what ever, I want to hear.

Before I start down the road, Umbuto, Gentoo, Slack, SuSE, Mandriva, RHEL,
CentOS, etc, etc. Some personal experiences will be very helpful.