Alternative Operating Systems

My name is Jc and I’m looking for an alternative operating system from Microsoft for reasons of security and stability. Well I did some research and found that there are alot of makers of different operating systems from Suse Linux 10.2, Slackware 12.0 to Solaris 10. and a new one called OpenBSD. My dillima is which is more secure and safe for me and my family without the worry of stability and security holes like microsoft. Please all at ZDNET please help aid me in my search for a better, safer and more secure alternative operating system and thank you. Jc Simmons