Linux (what version, anyway?) vs. XP

[skald]

Throwing together the following:

AMD XP 1700+ T-bred
Corsair XMS PC3200 512 MB (1 stick til I can afford another. :P)
Asus a7n8x mobo
Vantac AeroFlow Heatsink/Fan
SB Live! 5.1
CreativeLabs 5.1 (5300 speakers)
evga geforce 4 ti4200 64 mb 8x
Antec LifeStyle Sonata Piano Black Mid-Tower (380w TruePower)
Logitech mx500

blah blah blah...most of that is irrevalent to platform but I wanted to share anyway. :P

Anyway, my question is, what's the best version of Linux? I've never used Linux, but I'm more than confident I can learn, though I'm assuming it'll be difficult. As such, I'm not really concerned which is easiest to learn, but I'm more interested in which version is best for compatibility with software (filesharing capabilities, games, media apps, etc.), and which version is the most stable?

How much more stable is it than XP?

And I'm sure most would recommend Linux aside from the learning curve, but...what do you guys recommend?

Any answers and miscellaneous info related to the above would be appreciated. Thanks.

PS - Another thing, how many currently popular methods of file-sharing work with Linux? DirectConnect and KazaaLite are what I currently use, and would HLSW or The All-Seeing Eye work with it?