I have used Pinnacle Studio since ver 7 . It really is easy to use in basic terms but capable of better if you get more creative. In GUI terms it is hard to beat .. but
It has put of a significant minority of folk due to inconsistency in stability
Ver 9 was very stable.. after 3 ipdate patches and ver 10 likewise
Nero is far too basic IMHO , but it has amazing format support and is quite cheap considering you get a decwent burning program and sound editing ect along with it and a cpable media player
Adobe Premiere Elements as not previously newbee friendly but more recent versions are better
Sony Vegas Movie Studio is good but its initially unfamilier GUi put somr folk off.
It is very easy to have a lot of control over cuts , fades ect and I quite like and use it
Some swear by Ulead Movie Studio , other Roxio and then some Magix Softwae,
Cyberlink also had Power producer and director
To be honest they all have their strengths an weaknesses and none is without merit
Movie Factory is excellent for creating DVDs.. Its Plus versions have some editing but it wont replace a proper editing program
In short.. they are all learnable:
FWIW I mainly use Vegas Pro and Avid Liquid 7 pro and Adobe Premiere CS4 sometimes now but I wouldnt recommend them for a newbee unless you just want to go for it and get into it