I am not a Linux geek nor an expert in Linux but I have been using Linux for more than ten years now and have been able to handle my own very well. I consider myself to be a fairly experienced and self-sufficient Linux user and being a Linux user is different than being a Windows or Mac user.
I say so because being a computer user, as much as a car user or a microwave oven user, means being someone who turns on the thing, uses it, turns it off.
Being a Linux user in my opinion has more to do with the philosophy that lies beneath it, rather than the mere experience of turning on, using, turning off (which of course, especially nowadays, is safe to say can be done with no hassles with many Linux distros).
Even more so when someone has used another system and all in all is fine with it, changing for the fun of it or because some Linux evangelist praised the wonders of it, might result in expecting to have a better, free-er and eye-candier version of what he/she already has.
Only to find him/herself wondering why there’s no photoshop or because something works in ways that ultimately will never satisfy them.
So what’s this “philosophy” you’re talking about mor?
Well, it a drive one needs to have, a curiosity for the way things work in Linux systems and communities. One must be willing to learn new things, re-invent the approach he/she has towards computers. Most of those who turn to Linux for the wrong reasons, end up being partly or completely disappointed about it because they tend to replicate the behavior and approach they had on their previous system.
I know it is difficult to understand what I’m talking about, especially if we consider the efforts of several distros (not just ubuntu) to bring the Linux approach closer to that of other systems, but in the end, I believe that if one has no serious issues with the system he/she uses (windows viruses do not count here) and doesn’t have a natural desire, curiosity to discover a new way of using computers, if one has no will to learn from the system and contribute (there are many ways) to the community’s development, most likely Linux is a bad choice.
That said, and of course it was not meant to be direct at the OP who has indeed experience with Linux, I think it is fair to say that pretty much any distro works “out of the box”. Yes, some still have the “config files first” stage, but it is unlikely to get one of those even just by picking one at random.
Therefor I think that choosing the right distro has much more to do with experience with it than looking at the single features.
Yes looking at how strong the community and documentation is, how many packages are available, what king of package manager is used and such and such helps a lot, but only after trying several distros and using them for production will definitely make the choice obvious.
The premise I made earlier was indeed meant to justify the last statement and especially the “for production” bit.
If we use a side-box with Linux, only to tinker with it in the spare time, maybe install a few programs just to see how and where they differ from their win/mac counterparts, we are bound to never fully understand if Linux is the right choice and if this or that distro is the right one.
If one has that drive I mentioned earlier, he/she should do nothing but commit to Linux for production use. Transfer everything, personal data, e-mails, photos, music and videos, work stuff etc., otherwise it’ll always be some toy that lies there, fun to play with, nice to look at, but ultimately useless.
If there’s the slightest doubt about committing for production, maybe it is just not necessary to go Linux, maybe one is fine with what he/she has and, regardless of what many evangelists (of whichever system) would say, there’s nothing wrong about it.
I hope not to have been harsh and believe me I had no intention to challenge the judgment of anyone here, it’s only that I see many times user turning to Linux for the wrong reasons, often pushed irresponsibly by fanatics.
By the way, I use Debian, if there was no Debian I would use Archlinux. 
Ciao
