Start with Mint. You can always try something else when you're more comfortable with Linux.

Mint or Fedora. You’ll get tons of responses, and none of them are wrong, because no one can tell you what’s best for you, but those are the most popular choices among newbies, and they are very user friendly and approachable.

The best advice I can give you is try a bunch of different ones and see which one you like best. They’re free and easy to reinstall if you end up liking one over another.

Best of luck and I hope you find one that you truly love. :)

editing videos

What program will you use?

I have heard that DaVinci resolve is very hard to set up. as for Kdenlive, I have used it few times, and it felt very clunky.

I would go with mint if you have older hardware and bazzite if you have new hardware (especially nvidia graphics card). If you really want windows-like layout check zorin OS.

for actuall advice: I would try a bunch of them and stick with one where video editing works.

Mint is popular for beginners. I went with Debian KDE because I wanted something a little more minimalistic and boring. Fedora and OpenSUSE are also good options.

If you want to stick with a Windows-like desktop, pick a KDE distro over GNOME.

This question is probably as old as Linux itself. While many (me included) do not like Ubuntu anymore, I still think its a good operating system for newcomers to Linux. Not at last because of the community it has. Ubuntu is only by those dislike who are long enough in this game. There are also different variants with different user interfaces and such (like Kubuntu).

mint

Mint is the OS of choice for beginners. It's hassle free and it just works. Ubuntu is good, but its snap package got a bad rap when it was launched. It's not that bad. But it gets confusing since you end up with 3 different software packaging systems. (Apt with .deb files, Flatpak and Snap)

Personally I use Kubuntu, the KDE Plasma desktop version because it's so much more like Windows and has many more features. I don't mind the Snap packages, but I avoid them if I can if I can use Flatpak instead. Snap and Flatpak are essentially the same thing: it installs and runs software in a sandboxed environment which makes it safer to use.

Just adding to the numbers recommending Linux Mint. Once it's set up you don't really need to fiddle with it much/at all. Software manager is easy to use to find what you need for your tasks.

Generally you should be considering which desktop environment(DE) you want to use as well, cause it's the main thing you'll be looking at.

Mint is a good beginner, no fuss distro that runs the Cinnamon DE by default. It's also based on Ubuntu, built on top of the normal version of Ubuntu.

Ubuntu has several different options for DEs distributed as 'flavors' - Ubuntu itself comes with GNOME, but there's also Kubuntu which has KDE, and multiple other options available.

If you've got the time and a free USB drive, I'd recommend making bootable media for a few options to try them out - both Mint and Ubuntu(as well as many other different distros) have live environments to play around in when you go to install them, and it's worth trying out a few different DEs to see which one you like.

Bazzite if you want gaming working well without adding packages manually.

options:

• i just want my shit to work: mint
• i just don't want to deal with all of windows' nonsense changes: zorin
• i just want my shit to work and i have ideological problems with microsoft: linux mint debian edition
• i want an ideologically pure os (mostly): debian
• i want a truly ideologically pure os: pureos
• i just want my shit to work and i have an old-ish computer: mx linux
• i just want my shit to work and i have a considerably old computer: antix

It's been asked a million times, and it'll be answered every time, and the answers will mostly be "Mint, Fedora, FedoraKDE, and if you wanna game Bazzite."

The real advice that gets posted less, regardless of distro:

• Back up your important files to an external drive, often. It's entirely possible you'll fuck up an install beyond repair (or beyond what you know how to do at the time) and you end up reinstalling. If you can just put your important files back and be up and running, nothing of value is lost.

• Don't be scared of the terminal, it's incredibly useful. Look up a few YT vids like "bash basics" or "linux terminal for beginners" or something and follow along like it's a class, you'll soon be comfortable enough to use it when you need it, and you will, and you may come to love it. It's not as bad as windows cmd! Be careful when using sudo or su, that's when you could really screw up the system (but mostly it'll be fine just be careful.

And most importantly, have fun!

I will be the black sheep that strongly recommend against Mint. I have had more hardware compatibility problems trying to run Mint than any other distro. This is anecdotal, but consistent enough that I would make bets on it. Secondly, I hate Cinnamon, the default desktop environment. There are better choices.

Instead, I’ll suggest Fedora KDE. It’s rock solid, reliable, and the KDE Plasma desktop is the best currently available whether you leave it stock or customize it.

If you want to try things out, set up a spare thumb drive with Ventoy, which will let you boot to any ISO you copy to it. Most distros have “live” versions that you can boot to from the thumb drive and try out before installing. That said, most linux distros install in 5 minutes, so don’t be afraid to try anything and everything you’re curious about.

Also, avoid Cachy or other Arch based distros for now. They are great, but a far more hands-on. Something for the future, when you are more comfortable with linux in general.

Here are my recommendations from last time I saw this question asked: https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/comment/17912220

I'd recommend either OpenSuSE or Fedora, both with KDE. They're big, well supported distros, which should install without issue and provide a slick modern experience. I use OpenSuSE, as I find the YaST system tools convenient and user friendly.

I'd avoid Ubuntu, multiple issues. Mint is a good distro but I think any big mainstream distro "just works" now, so I'd go for something that uses a slicker desktop. I prefer KDE, which is available on Mint but just isn't as tightly integrated as their own Cinnamon desktop.

Seems like Mint is the consensus and I don't disagree. Just some things to consider when choosing:

1. Desktop Environment/Window Manager (DE/WM) this is the software responsible for displaying your desktop and managing the opening and closing of graphical windows. Window managers are very bare-bones and might offer an experience significantly different than Windows. (See tiling WMs). Desktop environments do the same and more, and are often bundled with launchers and useful default programs like terminals and editors.

2. Package manager. Package managers are responsible for managing your installed software. There are a variety of options, and distros typically will choose one as their default. Pacman for Arch, Aptitude for Debian, RPM for RedHat, and others. These are mostly interchangeable for the end user, but each has slightly different commands and frontends. So just be aware there will be a bit of an extra learning curve moving from a distro that uses one to a distro that uses another.

3. Release cycle. Different distros offer different styles of releasing updates. Ubuntu and Debian periodically release updates in a cycle with major and minor releases. Some releases are marked for long term support and others marked as short term. Upgrading releases has been hit or miss for me, so I prefer rolling release distros. These distros don't distinguish major releases and simply upgrade in place. Each has it's own advantages, just be mindful of how often you will have to upgrade.

Mint 100% to start with, install Nvidia drivers if you have an Nvidia graphics card. Install and run a game though Steam or whatever and if all the hardware works and you can get the refresh rate you want you're good to go.

If not, install Fedora KDE and do the same.

If you still have issues on Fedora make another post here with some hardware details and say what you tried.

Mint, cinnamon.

Go with Mint until you learn more about how Linux filesystems work and then you can go wherever you feel comfortable. Mint just has a really easy install.

Btw you can load them to a USB and try out without installing if picking one is kinda hard tho remember performance will depend on USB quality.

Mint is fine. I went with pop!_os because at the time mint didn't play well with my hardware.

Make sure you test things from the install live disk before you commit. Internet access, displays, audio should all work.

Whatever beginner friendly distro you choose, I suggest you use it as if you were a grandma, especially if you have experience in troubleshooting Windows. It's natural to try to find the solution to a problem by doing a Google search, but first of all Linux changes quickly, so solutions that are older than 2 years may be outdated, over 5 years they likely are, and they may apply to different distros than yours, so be careful. Always check your DE's settings app first, those have gotten really good in the last few years.
Don't be afraid to ask in chatrooms if your distro has any, the myth of the rude Linux community is just that, a myth.

OpenSUSE, Fedora, maybe Ubuntu. I'd avoid immutable style distros like bazzite. They make things easier at the beginning but have other downsides where "normal" solutions need additional steps.

Bazzite for a first try. If you never hit a wall needing to make system tweaks, stick to it in the long term. Otherwise, I’m really liking Fedora. KDE/Gnome is personal choice.

The thing about Linux is the back and front are separated, and you can customize the ux like crazy. So as you try stuff, pay more attention to package manager, how easy things are in terminal, compatibility, etc.

Try some shit.

sounds like you have a decent computer so try bazzite gnome for your gpu

it's great for normal stuff, development and gaming

I use Pop! OS and I'm also a first time linux user! The installation process was pretty straightforward and I got used to it pretty quickly