IMO, they are pretty similar. Both attempt to appeal to the same group of users: people who are new at Linux. Either one should work well for you. Also, remember that the capabilities of Linux do not change much between distros.
There is the BlueCurve issue, but it is mostly a visual one, and won't affect the capabilities of the system, nor your ability to learn from it. I wouldn't rule out Red Hat based soley on BlueCurve.