linuxmemes

RIP your inbox lol. Like others have said though whatever you choose test it out booting off a USB first, fwiw I'd vote try FedoraKDE, but more importantly I'll add this:

Whatever you choose it will be different and it will be an adjustment in some capacity, and that's ok! And don't be scared of the terminal, always keep back ups just in case but you really can't fuck up tooooo bad unless you're using sudo and then just be real careful. Watch a few youtube videos on something like "linux terminal basics" or "bash basics" and follow along like you're taking a class, it'll really help you get familiar with it. It's a great thing to know how to use, these days if I know how to do it through the terminal I usually will instead of puttering through a gui honestly.

Whatever you pick, first test it by running it from a USB drive first.

First step: Decide on the so-called desktop environment. A shortlist is provided below. For a new user, this should be decisive when choosing between beginner-friendly distros.

Before going over to the next (and final) step, we need to set the stage for our contenders:

• Versions of Linux Mint. Linux Mint has (rightfully so) become the face of Linux for beginners. Stand out feature would be how crazy popular it is; it's a joy to look up your problem through a search engine and find solutions for it.
• Images of uBlue. Where Linux Mint tries to smooth the rough edges of the "traditional Linux model" as nicely as possible, uBlue's images can be referred to as revolutionary by comparison. The model strikes some (re)semblance to what you might know from your phone or chromebook. These images aren't even close to reaching their full potential, but have already garnered/amassed a wide audience for how they (at least attempt to) solve some of Desktop Linux' long-standing issues. Note that finding solutions for your problems might not be as straightforward. However, documentation is decent and they've been very helpful on Discord.

Final step: Pick the distro corresponding to your preferred desktop environment. The list found below (ordered alphabetically) isn't trying to be exhaustive on desktop environments.

• Cinnamon; Linux Mint Cinnamon Edition. This is their flagship and probably what people mean when referring to Linux Mint.
• GNOME; Bazzite's GNOME. If you don't intend to game, then consider Bluefin instead.
• KDE Plasma; Bazzite's KDE Plasma. If you don't intend to game, then consider Aurora instead.
• MATE; Linux Mint MATE Edition.
• Xfce; Linux Mint Xfce Edition.

I recommend Linux Mint with the default Gnome/Cinnamon desktop. I think it's the most "Windows-like" (You can add other desktops later on without having to reinstall anything. KDE Plasma is really nice). The installer found all my hardware for me and set it up, including my network printer. It installed my nVidia drivers (even gave me a choice of several with a 'Recommended' one at the top).

The LibreOffice suite is already included, which should take care of your productivity needs. (It recognizes and can read/write MS-Office documents). Thunderbird will take care of your email needs.

There's also a utility called TimeShift, which works like Windows System Restore. Since you'll be making a lot of changes the first month or so, it's a great way to undo any screw-ups. Make sure you create a Restore Point before you do any serious fiddling. Even if you make your system unbootable, you can boot from a Linux Mint flash drive and run TimeShift that way, too.

Gaming is awesome. Steam has a native linux client, which uses a version of Wine called Proton, which has all the settings needed to run your games. Basically, everything I bought on Steam under Windows, runs in Linux. (NOLF 1 was the only game I couldn't get to completely work. No music, I think the game uses DirectPlay for music, which no games seem to use anymore).

I switched from Win10 to Mint, and am quite happy. You can get a lot of stuff done through GUI, so you can put off learning how to use the terminal a little. If you are worried about using it, I can recommend using ChatGPT. Helped me troubleshoot a lot of issues and learning a few tricks.

Mint is fine, Kubuntu is also great.

Such a decisive question. I wouldn't say there's necessarily a "best". Mint is an EXCELLENT choice. So too would be Fedora (Fedora KDE edition I'd recommend for most) or OpenSuSe Tumbleweed.

Just pick what looks decent to you and give it a shot.

Mint is the best to start tbh.

And you could stay in mint for years and barely have to use bash, and when you do there is a well stocked forum, so it is sometimes even easier than windows to troubleshoot.

mint is good, pop!os is also good, i use and recommend endeavouros as arch-but-easy. tbh just about any popular distro these days is prolly gonna do fine for the average user.