stalesweetness,
if it's ubuntu you installed, you will stay in ubuntu. if it's fedora you installed you'll stay in fedora. i have never heard of any linux that allows you to upgrade to a different distro.
another thing to consider is the amount of time the OS offers security updates. lucid lynx is an LTS (long term service) that is supported for 3 years. i've heard centOS is a seven year OS, and some distros are rolling updates (i'm not sure what that means, but it may mean it's supported as long as the distro isn't abandoned) maybe someone can come along and clarify this as i am not sure.
for what it's worth, i hope you are able to get ubuntu working. i posted on the official ubuntu forum about my display problem and nobody ever replied. it looks to me like the display problems are common now (at least they are for me, unfortunately). i've also spent a few hours trying to troubleshoot the problem, but couldn't fix it.
as i stated earlier, i have over 100 distros on disk and don't regret spending the time and money on them one bit. not only do they help with diagnosis, but it's also 'neat' to try something new. you also learn alot from the project.
i've already suggested a couple of distros that are high quality, well supported, and friendly to newbies. a couple others that i suggest are salix and pardus. be careful not to install unless you are sure that it's for you. i've had it happen where i was using windows and had problems that i thought were fatal and reinstalled, then got ideas that may have repaired the windows that i wanted to keep, but it was too late.
