Finally making the transition from Windows to a Linux. I’m pretty sure it’s been asked several times but which Linux OS would you recommend a beginner to use? I’ve seen Ubuntu and Mint as a good start. Not looking to do much. Game here and there (not too worried about Linux compatibility), streaming, editing videos. If I break any rules. I’m sorry.
If you’re not looking to do much you might be better off with one of the immutable variants (silver blue, aurora, bazzite). The upside is things are not supposed to break too much. The downside is if it breaks almost any existing instructions on the internet prior to maybe 2022 will fuck the system up more. Tbh Linux changes so fast that’s true for most variants, but you can reach back to maybe 2018 before you start to hit system-breaking legacy instructions.
Mint isn’t a good choice, but if you want a generally straightforward system that looks like Mac (gnome) or windows (KDE) then fedora is a good choice.
None of these options will be as secure by default as a Mac or windows machine – you will have to do a lot of learning and be generally technically inclined to get there. The immutable OSs will give you a small leg up there, just because you’re running less random shit from the internet as admin/root, but the Linux community hates Intel and Microsoft so much it’s taken a lonnnngggg time to adopt standard security techniques, mostly resting on their laurels from decades past. Will you get viruses? Probably not. But just because nobody broke in doesn’t mean leaving your door unlocked is secure.