My kids like to get their computer full of this stuff. I just wipe the computer clean and tell them to download the updates. The last time I did this one of the restore discs would not work. I called gateway and they told me they no longer support this computer because it is older than three years. Now the oldest one wants to use my computer to “just check her Facebook page.” Haha, she will have to wait on that one.
I haven't used Linux in a few years because I'm a gamer but when I did it was fun. You'll have all Internet functions, good Internet radio, a huge library of cool stuff including games, desktop widgets, office suites, etc, a huge user base and web presence and it's fun.
For kids not playing major release games it's perfect, they won't mess it up, no anti-virus programs needed, they will actually learn inside computing and if they do experiment and manage to mess something up it re-installs easily.