I’m not familiar with OpenSUSE or Manjaro, but if you are familiar with Ubuntu, then I would recommend either Linux Mint or Pop OS. Both are Ubuntu-based, and Pop OS has a Desktop Environment that is very similar to macOS. Pop OS is also suited for gaming with Steam, but then again, I think Steam works well on any Linux distro. The team behind Pop OS is currently doing some major revamps to the OS, but these changes are not yet released for stable use.

If you are building a new machine, I highly recommend you check to see if your HW will be compatible with Linux. You might want to pay close attention to the GPU and Wifi card. NVIDIA requires special drivers to work with Linux, while AMD works out of the box. As for the Wifi cards, depending on the wifi drivers that are installed in the distro, you may have to tinker a bit to get that to work. I recommend having the option to use Ethernet at the time you are setting up the distro, just so you have internet access to download what you need.

Based on my experience, I think you can. Many distros nowadays offer ways to do things without the use of the terminal. In Linux Mint, for example, you can rely solely on the Update Manager to update all installed applications and modules rather than using the terminal. You can also uninstall apps by right-clicking on them in the Menu and selecting the uninstall option. And finally, if you want to move files around, even to some locations that require root, you can do that using the File Explorer app (e.g. Nemo).

That being said, when I started on my Linux journey, I made it a point to actually learn some terminal commands, because I saw it as an important feature in Linux and a good skill to possess.

Steam is probably the best platform for gaming on Linux right now. Here are some games I recommend that run well on Linux:

• Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (the spiritual successor of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night)
• Romancing SaGa 3 (retro JRPG that involves non-linear, open-world exploration)
• Octopath Traveler 2 (another JRPG; you don’t need to play the first game in the series to enjoy this game)
• Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist Link Evolution (not a freemium game!)

I would like to, but I’m running Arch with Cinnamon, and that desktop environment only has an experimental version of Wayland implemented. I’ve tried it, and it’s too buggy to be used as a daily driver.

For my own learning and understanding, why does it take that long for GNOME on Arch?

Initially, it is quite bland, but I have already downloaded the Linux Mint themes and backgrounds, plus some other theme options that were recommended to me. So, in terms of themes, I’m okay with that.

As for the Wayland option, that is available as a selection in the Login Screen. I don’t use it very often, because it is quite buggy.

By “news”, I mean do we have any major updates, like improvements to the experimental Wayland support. From the link you shared, that minor update doesn’t really mean much to me.

Overall, pretty decent.

Interesting…for reference, let me share a screenshot of the first two results I get from Kagi.

Cool, I’m liking this new Mozilla already! …NOT!!!

Welcome, friend! Glad you decided to try out and stick with Mint. That’s the distro I used as my daily driver for at least 1.5 years. When you have a chance, do try out some of the other Linux distros, especially Arch!

I used to be in a similar position as you. I ditched Windows about 1.5 years ago, and I hopped around several distros for a while before settling on Linux Mint. About 2 months ago, i decided that I wanted to try out something new, not because Linux Mint wasn’t working for me, but just to see if there was something else that would be fun to learn about Linux. Today, I use Arch, and my DE is basically the Linux Mint Cinnamon DE.

Congratulations!

From what I heard, the Dell XPS 13 is one option to run a Linux distro, but it isn’t the only option. Should it not work for you, another alternative you could consider is the Acer Swift 3. That’s the laptop I currently own, and I run Arch Linux on it. I have not yet encountered any issues with it. Prior to running Arch, I have tried Linux Mint and Pop OS on it. I wouldn’t recommend Linux Mint on a laptop, not because it’s a bad distro (Linux Mint is quite good as a beginner distro), but because the Cinnamon DE isn’t great for laptops. The GNOME and Cosmic DE are more suited for laptop workflows.

I used Linux Mint for about 1.5 years before transitioning to Arch Linux. For me, the transition was to learn more about Linux and to try something new. Thus far, I’m really liking Arch. There have been a few issues that have popped up here and there, like getting Bluetooth devices to connect properly, but the Arch Wiki and forums often have the solution. You just have to spend time reading the articles or the forum responses.

As for other distros, I’ve tried Zorin, Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Pop OS, and KDE Neon before settling on Linux Mint.

If you want something that looks and behaves much like the Windows desktop environment, use Linux Mint. If you want something closer to the macOS environment, use Pop OS.

An excellent choice to use Linux Mint! If my parents allowed me to switch their computers to Linux, I would’ve chosen Linux Mint as well for them. But, I probably wouldn’t give them the Windows 10 look.

Arch Linux has two online stores for purchasing merch:

Freewear

HelloTux

The Bottom Right

Don’t forget about the Firefox forks like LibreWolf!