Cheers - it completly would have passed under my radar. I guess it's crashbang lite, xubuntu or one of the Puppies ... will dwell on that a little. Puppy Linux is actually fairly neat, given it just runs from memory after loading.
I always wondered why the Atari TOS / Amiga OS model of running most of the OS from ROMs never really catched on. With technology available now having the core of the OS run straight from ROMs on the mother board would likley mean we'd come pretty damn close to "instant boot" systems.

This wouldn't work, and soon will not be neecessary anyway.
Operating systems are frequently updated--sometimes on a weekly basis--and over time this can result in a large portion of system files being modified in some manner or other. A ROM-booting OS would need to be able to check its files against the ones on the hard drive, which would greatly delay any advantages of having the OS on a chip.
Additionally, such technology is irrelevant now because SSDs are becoming the future of hard drives. SSDs can process data at RAM-like speeds, which means the system can theoretically boot and operate as fast as the CPU, RAM, and GPU can handle. SSD data can also be rewritten in the blink of an eye and as often as necessary without having to refer to mirror locations or otherwise divide the integrity of the OS's carefully-defragmented system folder, meaning the OS won't have to boot slower over time as software updates are spliced in.

Linux Mint is really good if you want to start in the Linux world. All codecs and proprietary drivers already oncluded, visual effects are not too catchy, just a good balance of awesomeness and usability. Try to use ext4 as a file format when installing. It's really fast.

What do you mean? You can easily uninstall most everything, except the core system packages from the Add/Remove programs applet or Synaptic package manager.

I was unable to remove GIMP (at least I think it was GIMP) using either method without removing the "desktop package" (or some such thing, I forget the exact term it used). I didn't know what removing that would do so I didn't try it, and either way this warning clearly indicated that it wasn't going to allow GIMP's removal from the suite in the specific, piece-by-piece manner one would expect. If there was some other way to remove GIMP without also removing other bundled programs in the process it was not made clear at all.

I strongly recommend Linux Mint, mostly because of driver and codec support. That dev team is really the most on top of it in terms of user friendliness and "just works right out of the box" mindset. Perfect for non techies.
I got my start on Ubuntu but don't like it anymore.
OpenSUSE is my second fav choice. I recommend it to people who I think will be more impressed by the KDE desktop (fancier looking by default).

Hmmm. That is what happens if you try to uninstall one of those "core system packages" I mentioned. Frankly I'm really surprised they would do that with GIMP, of all things. I've never tried to uninstall GIMP myself (I actually use it), but I may have to now, just to experiment.
You do realize that Linux Mint is Ubuntu, right? All they did was use a different user interface (like Kubuntu or Xubuntu) and include some software on the install CD that is readily available through Ubuntu's software repositories.

opensuse.

I use archlinux, but it's primarily for advanced users or people who are willing to learn and don't mind a bit of hard work in the beginning.
It is a rolling distro though, so when you've got the system up and running you can just update it through pacman once in a while, you never need to do a complete reinstall.
Debian is also a rolling distro, but I've never used that myself.

I've stuck with Ubuntu for the past four years. There are the occasional annoyances, but I'd rather work around them than switch entirely.
Oh, and I've run several GOG games on my stock Ubuntu (Jaunty) system, too:
-Fallout
-Fallout 2
-Die By The Sword
-Pro Pinball Big Race USA (my current preoccupation)
-Earthworm Jim 1 and 2
-M.A.X. 1 and 2

It sounds like Debain might be the distro you're looking for but your choice of Desktop Environment is probably more important than what Linux distribution you use. If you were to think of Windows as having one interface and OS X as having another, Linux would have over twenty to pick from. These are usually referred to as Desktop Environments or Window Managers and will be easy to grab for multiple distributions.
However, the more "friendly" distributions may muck with things a bit and their implementations of a DE may differ notably from each other. On the other hand, Distros like Debain, Slackware, Gentoo, and Arch will usually allow greater control over what's installed and default configurations will be more generic or standard. Well, there are some exceptions in the case of Debian but I would still say it's more stripped down and "clean" than Ubuntu, Open SuSe, and Mandriva.
The package that you mentioned was probably a "meta-package" thats only purpose was to drag in a bunch different applications for the sake of "convenience". Instead of just installing "NeatAppFoo", it would insall "NeatAppFoo" with all the extras and a few other applications that it thinks you might like. Since this is usually done by creating an "empty" package that requires all that stuff to be installed, it's going to complain when something that's a part of the deal gets removed. A meta-package will usually have "installs X, Y, and Z" as part of it's description.
Debain has a lot of meta-packages and Ubuntu has even more.....

I use Arch as well. It's not terribly complicated at all, actually. I had 0 experience with Linux and my computer skills weren't really that awesome. But yeah, it's advisable to have a second computer or laptop with internet at hand during the first few hours (days?). You're going to have to put some time in it though, picking and configuring stuff like window- and file managers, but in the end everything is exactly as *you* want it to be.
I tried Ubuntu on my girlfriend's laptop, but it felt too much like a less functional Windows to me.

Ye, well. I went with crunchbang. Not much of a thing installing, liked the feel of what I have, but ... my laptop's internal wifi is an Atheros 5600 which is one of those linux nightmares as I discovered reading up. So - the one thing I absolutely wanted to work, internet access, doesn't. I can't go wired, sadly, given the router is in an appartment above and, even though I am allowed to connect through it, I doubt their love would go far enough to let me camp in there.
That is ... I think I got it to work once. For a few seconds fiddling with config files and the like. I went at it with xubuntu/debian too with no better results. And given I have to log out, boot windows, read up info (and take note on a piece of paper) log out windows, reboot and start linux again makes it all a slow process reading up on possible solutions. So for now I'll let it rest a couple days.
The card is recognized, but I have the feeling just not initialized. Or rather it's a bit weirder than that. My laptop has these little indicator LEDs, and I can see it lit up while linux is starting. Until after I've entered my username/password and the desktop itself loads up. Then - light off, no wireless networks to be found. Even weirder - after re-booting to windows from linux it is de-activated there, too. Each time. I have to manually re-activate using the atheros software tool. No, I don't touch the on/off switch for the wireless on the laptop case. Hrm.
Re: Linux distros. Arch Linux is interesting to me particularly because the rolling update thingie. Like that. And I really don't mind mingling with command lines or setting up stuff. I used computers long before graphical interfaces where common.
Re: OS on ROM. Granted - it might not be necessary much anymore today, but Atari and Amiga pulled it off more than 20 years ago. Also - ROMs are not static, but can be patched. It certaintly wouldn't have been impossible to manage - it'd have required changes in how the OS is programmed and how updates are run, but ... not by that much. Updating would require re-booting. But than you have to do that most of the time Windows updates, too.

Slackware or nothing.
Seriously, go Ubuntu.