out of the box networking like Xandros

I am trying to get our corporate geeks to see the value proposition of
switching from Windoze to Linux, and I think Linux is approaching
critical mass in terms of cross-app support with Windoze app file
types, etc., but in the past I have never had the time or patience to
get a Linux install (Corel, Redhat, Mandrake) to "see" the servers and
shares on our WinNT and Win2k network.

From what I have read, Xandros has an out of box install that pretty
much makes this transparent to the user. Two questions:

1) does Xandros really work as advertised and if so,

2) are there comparable Linux distros that do much the same?

If I can get past the networking hurdle, I feel certain I can use the
value proposition of Linux to begin weaning us from the Micro$oft
tyranny.

Any comments (even flames) will be greatly appreciated.