If you want my two cents, Mint's default Desktop Environment (Cinnamon) is far more windows-like compared to Ubuntu, and Mint includes more quality of life applications for less tech savvy people compared to Ubuntu out of the box. (Mainly graphical apps for updates, backups, disk management, etc...)

I first tried Ubuntu when I was starting my Linux journey, but it didn't really click until I used Mint. Save yourself some pain and go for Mint first :)

Edit: Also, Ubuntu contains ads for things like their "Ubuntu Pro" update service, and they're known to commit some tomfuckery when it comes to installing apps and compatibility (see Snap Controversy)

I've been around the block with linux. I'm no expert but I have used it since the 90's off and on. And I always go back to Mint. It's by far the best out of the box. Easy to set up and very intuitive. The only thing I've ever had to configure after the install, is sometimes I have to use a proprietary video driver (not hard to change). My Dell 2in1 will not go into tablet mode with the open drivers. You can test drive it from a USB stick before committing to it.

I can confirm Mint, specifically with the Cinnamon Desktop environment. Although I would also recommend Debian with the Cinnamon Desktop. Ubuntu has been making some pretty weird choices lately for a while now. And while Mint has been trying to move it's upstream straight to Debian, they haven't done so yet.

Ubuntu was created as supposedly the first Linux "made for people" of course there were other version of Linux trying to do that but Ubuntu also had funding, including for advertising (it was created by a billionaire Mark Shuttleworth) which helped.

Mint took Ubuntu and shaped it further to be even simpler.

I think Ubuntu tried to replicate UI of MacOS while Mint tried to look more like Windows.

I personally did not use Mint, but from the comments you can see that it has a significant following.

I used Ubuntu for some time, but stopped over decade ago as I got very frustrated that they frequently introduced instability (note that since Mint is based on Ubuntu it is not completely immune to that), though I hope that things improved and now Ubuntu is more stable.

+1 on Mint. Ubuntu is fine, but things like Ubuntu's Snaps can cause headaches that just don't exist elsewhere.

I landed on Mint after Ubuntu gave me some grief right after installing it and I wasn't in the mood to chase it around. Mint installed super easy and has given me no trouble at all. It does what I do with a computer just fine.

Linux mint is the loveliest distro. Apart from desktop shock you will get in Ubuntu coming from windows, it also has some controversial decisions. If you use Debian version of mint (LMDE), it is more stable than Ubuntu, which is already rock solid like pyramid of Giza (cf windows).

Manjaro might not be the best starting point tbh. So many better choices.

If you disable TPM in your bios, W11 won't install, nor update if it is already installed.

This guy analyzes!

I don't know, but I find myself mentioning it often enough I feel like somebody ought to be paying me for it.

Using wine and Proton, I've been able to play old windows games that haven't worked on real windows for over two decades.

I don't think I've actually played any of those so I can't speak to them but hopefully someone else can. There is a website you can check compatibility on although I don't know if it includes non-games and/or tools. Arizona Sunshine looks like it's fine: https://www.protondb.com/search?q=arizona+sunshine

If it's gold or higher it'll almost certainly play without issue. Silver will very likely play if you tweak the compatibility settings to change proton versions (go to game options in steam > compatibility > change the version. Bronze is hit or miss, you'll likely be able to get it to work but it might require more work. Borked is of course...borked.

Anyways, someone else can probably answer those games specifically but if not you can use the website to check.