Linux

A friend recommended it to mee because Ubuntu packages were hard to edit/create and the versions were always out of date. So I used XFCE and later the KDE edition and had no really big issues (since the forum if something broke always had a workaround). Ngl there were some stupid issues like 3 times (Nvidia GPU user yay!) but other than that the Desktop Experience, Windows Dual Boot, Gaming, Custom packages in minutes were perfect. Pacman is just a beast so I recommend any distro that ships with that.

(This is from the perspective of a Desktop user)

It's ok, if you're willing to read the Forum once in a while and inform yourself before applying upgrades.

If you want to try out other distros without friction, spin up a virtual machine via Gnome Boxes or virt-manager with some different distros

I don’t have the time to always be doing crazy power user stuff and just want something that works out of the box.

otherwise why change whats running for you?

Fedora is nice, not based on Ubuntu, and it mostly "just works" out of the box. The only obnoxious part is having to manually install codecs to play videos.

Its Green.

It's aight. I like having access to the AUR and Pacman through a nice UI but easy to shoot yourself in the foot if you aren't careful.

The GNOME spin is really good imo. use it on my gaming laptop. Might go to Pop when it gets CosmicDE tho

manjaro is my backup os for my primary endeavourOS, and it has never failed me in the last 5 years. one time there was an issue with manjaro lagging behind aur which was solved a few days later and wasn't a big deal. the only reason is not my primary is bc I just like endeavourOS a tad more

Its ok, but the Arch repos are very limited limited and I can't recommend using AUR much.

Better try Fedora.

I run linux on my gaming rig. I've had the best luck with performance of graphics cards with manjaro and pop. I am not a huge fan of gnome and prefer kde (FWIW, gnome works fine, I just prefer the feel of kde).

With the above in mind, I really like the newness of the packages on rolling distros like Manjaro/arch. Yes, it can break things but Manjaro tends to be a bit behind Arch on releases -- maybe this helps? The AUR is awesome. I also like several of the gui tools Manjaro has implemented to make graphics driver installs simpler.

Pop worked really well and was simplier for gaming -- especially on devices with hybrid graphics.

That being said, I haven't used Mint since the forums were hacked. I haven't used Ubuntu since they started devaluing their users (integrated Amazon?, forcing snap?). Fedora is nice but I found pop/manjaro better for gaming due to graphics support.

My advice to you -- what you are asking is one of the main benefits of linux -- personal choice.

So... get out your USB stick and try them. Use the forums to help you with the nuances and make each work for your needs. Then see what you prefer. Then donate to that project and its base project.

It's awesome to have choice.

Mankato is easy to use and looks nice but I’ve also been using it for years. It has the power of the AUR but if people are saying other might be better they might be right. I would just stick to something Arch based because of the AUR. I saw a comment about endeavor and I might try it myself.