Linux

I started of on Linux Mint, had a couple of niggles with it so I thought 'let's be a spoony and get Ubuntu.' Got on pretty well with Ubuntu but there were a few minor things about Gnome I didn't like. I'm now on Kubuntu and it's the Goldilocks zone for me. It's been about 18 months now since I abandoned Windows 7.

you've got a lot of answers, but as someone who started playing around with Linux recently I would say it's probably better to start familiarizing yourself with some command line operations in windows now.

Do some things like, use the terminal to search for and open programs you need, delete files, even write some basic text documents.

yes, you'll have to do some googling to work out how to do these things (and why it didn't work) - and now you're on the path to linux!

Maybe you'll even find a way to install a command line browser to look up the answers.

Nobara is built for gaming (it's a Fedora based Linux distro), I've tried it and it's very nice. To be honest, try a few and see which one you like best. You can dual-boot a Linux system and still keep Windows. This might be a nice way to ease the transition. Each distro will have lots of ways with interacting with its community - Linux is much more about community than Windows so you will find lots of lovely new places and people to help you on your journey.

This channel is great for dual-boot explainers for many difference distros: https://piped.video/channel/UC7QBh73Rm2PYQs8WFPV1ELg

I believe the biggest difference between Linux distributions for beginners will be the DE (desktop environment), you can change it in any distro you choose, but usually there is a DE that is optimized or customized as standard for each distribution. Some DE are very different from the Windows interface. I highly recommend using Cinnamon, Mate or KDE, the transition from Windows to Linux will be smoother in my opinion. The DE also includes a suite of applications such as an office suite, browser, administrative and customizable tools, which will also impact your experience. As other said before Linux Mint is a great option, it is stable and friendly. There is LMDE which is Mint with Debian under the hood instead of Ubuntu if you care about use a non-enterprise based distro, but that is another discussion.

I'd second Mint as well (I've used it for many years now). Out of interest, what games are you thinking of? Most of them should work out of the box, but with some there can be issues especially with multiplayer ones.

Following is a good resource for a distro decision https://www.privacyguides.org/en/desktop/ If you ever want to know more about something like firewall, bkuetooth, etc. use wiki.archlinux.org/ but only use arch if you want a very steep learning curve.

It doesn't matter too much which distro you choose. It's all linux.

1. Install graphical apps via flatpak (stay away from snaps)
2. Install graphical apps via distrobox (may want to do this later when you are confident enough with linux)

I’d say go with kde as you DE. Personally I like opensuse tumbleweed.

Opensuse gives a lot of „windows like“ features like control panel etc.

If you're a gamer, I recommend Pop!_OS. Everything works out of the box, plus extra compatibility for Nvidia cards. It took me a second to get used to the UI, but now I can't go back.

If history repeats itself Windows 10 is not going to die until the next good Windows floods the market

Im going to try out Nobara when they move to plasma 6 and also EndeavourOS. One of those will suit my needs for gaming.

If you want to just work, just install xubuntu.

You can always start sooner and dual boot on Linux Mint to get familiar test your usecases. I have been dual booting and haven't logged into Windows in over 6 months. Gaming is pretty good for many games on Linux.

Most of the top answers are good so I will emphasize something that others have mentioned as well, which is that one of the lovely things about Linux is that your GUI, your window manager or desktop environment (different things I know, don't @ me) is up to you.

My personal favorite is xfce, but obviously a lot of people like KDE, Cinnamon, and Mate (mah-tay). There's of course a whole world of options beyond those, when you're choosing a distribution, go to the distro's website, and look at the screenshots. If they have different versions for different desktop environments or window managers, look at all the screenshots. Try to pick one that has a look and layout that looks comfortable to you.

Also backup your home directory. And remember you can always distro hop.