Linux

ElementaryOS if yer a Mac fan.

My vote is Linux Mint. I had installed it on a family members laptop and have been going strong for years without fault.

If you have to ask it probably means the answer is one of the following:

• Mint
• Ubuntu
• Pop!_os

In that order. Mint will be most likely the answer if your hardware is pretty normal. Ubuntu will be the answer if you're willing to give up some security and privacy for east of use (pro-tip: if this is your mentality I'd recommend a different OS and dual booting while you learn). Pop!_os will be the answer if you don't need super up to date software and want all your hardware to work because you have something odd

Personally I would strongly advise towards Mint. I used to direct people away from it but I've learned this was a bias I had against them for mishandling a security thing a long time ago that they've since become leaders in the security space for general use Linux operating systems.

@PoliticallyIncorrect
100% for #LinuxMint.

I would recommend Vanilla OS, especially Vanilla OS 2 once it's released. It's a very stable distro with an immutable system. It also allows you to install arch, debian, fedora, etc. packages using the apx package manager

I would highly recommend fedora kinoite, it's immutable so the system doesn't break without you trying very hard, well configured out of the box, and uses flatpak for apps so the system can be stable and the apps can be updated regularly!

My advice is to just look at the screenshots of a few mainstream ones and pick one that looks the most usable.

A few:

• Mint - Can't go wrong if you like traditional desktop.
• Pop OS - Great for gaming (and many other things).
• Zorin - Never used it, but it's supposedly easy, and very polished.
• Ubuntu - Has many haters (including myself), because of nuances, but honestly it'll do the job just fine.

What do you want to do with it?

This request is impossible to fulfill

• people that dont care about wayland etc. may use Linux Mint
• people that want a server will choose Debian
• people dont care about malware will choose ubuntu
• people that dont care about all of that will use an Atomic Fedora Spin like Silverblue

Linux Mint Cinnamon

It's Linux Mint Cinnamon. Unless you are trying to run your OS in a potato, then it's Linux Mint MATE.

Depends on your hardware.

What are you trying to build? A work laptop that you're going to take on trips, a gaming computer, a server? Something else?

For you, what is too much hassle? Are you a new Linux user or an experienced user with no spare time? What are you accustomed to doing when you install an operating system and what do you expect to be preinstalled?

What is your favorite colour?

ARCH!!!