Fedora then? Just choose the default Workstation. Easy to setup. Easy to do stuff too.

Linux Mint is very user friendly, it’s build on debian (like Ubuntu), it’s easy to install Steam. Prior bad experiences might have been happening for a number of reasons, but I’d still give it a go…

though I occasionally play Fortnite with my son

Just an FYI, Fortnite isn’t supported on Linux so if you still want to dabble with Linux, maybe give a try dual-booting.

I am no expert and can only tell from my own experience: i recently installed CachyOS with KDE, it is an Arch based distro, despite that I, a fresh linux user, think it is really accessible and it worked out of the box. Gaming is not really an issue for me, if issues arise i just check ProtonDB, but that´s really rare thanks to Lutris being pre-installed. You also benefit from the Arch Wiki which, in my opinion, has a REALLY good documentation of any question or issue you encounter with that operating system.

You have to get comfortable with the terminal though, but i think that applies to any linux distro (my only other distro experience is Mint 10 yrs ago)

Gaming idk but for regular office and personal work: Linux Mint. It is stable like no other OS and has a much friendlier UI than Ubuntu (and not the terrible snap)

Games are mostly Steam, though I occasionally play Fortnite with my son, and I am aware Heroic/Lutris can help with that.

You cannot play Fortnite on Linux, and if you try to play it by bypassing the Easy Anti-Cheat your account will get banned.

Bazzite is just Fedora Atomic with extra things slapped on top (Nvidia drivers if u have an Nvidia card, kernel tweaks for gaming, Steam and Lutris preinstalled, etc.). It functions just as well as a normal desktop as any other distro. It’s also my default recommendation for anyone that plans on doing any gaming, where my recommendation for complete non-gamers is Fedora Atomic, which is what it’s based off. Since it is Atomic (the root file structure is kept consistent across all installs, and updates aren’t applied while the system is running), it’s very resilient and reliable. If anything ever does break (which won’t happen under normal conditions), then you can revert to the previous version from the boot menu and restore it, then either try to update again, or wait a bit before you upgrade if you suspect the issue was a bad update or something. All you need to know is that is called a rollback, and you should be able to find all the information you need about how to do it via a quick search. I can tell you to memorize sudo rpm-ostree rollback, but chances are you would rather look it up in case you remembered wrong anyway.

For people coming from Windows, I recommend the KDE Plasma version, as the UI is more Windows-like than GNOME, so it’s a smoother transition. It isn’t like GNOME is difficult to learn or anything (it’s likely what you used with Ubuntu), it’s actually simpler, it’s just very opinionated and differs in design philosophy from both Windows and KDE Plasma. You can always feel free to look into the differences on your own by watching videos, as they show off the desktop environments more than text ever could.

Debian. Debian is stable. Debian has great wiki. Debian is home.

I was in the sane situation as you and what I did was buy a new drive to put Linux on so I could dual boot and get used to things without wiping everything. Linux can even mount your Window drive if you need to access data on it.

I tried a few distro myself but landed on Garuda Dr460onized Gaming. (You can look at different versions here) The gaming version came with steam and Heroic installed and had a nice colour theme picked. Gaming has been great and all Windows games that I’ve tried have worked better than when I was running Windows. (Rocket League, Hades 2, Uncharted 4 to name some) You can always keep Windows on your other drive and boot it for games like Fortnite that have kernel level anti cheat.

The only issue you might have is that Garuda is pretty bleeding edge with when updates get applied. This can be good or bad. There were some issues getting dual screens working for me at first, but those issues have gone away completely now. I also had issues with the top menu bar crashing and disappearing. Lasted about 2 weeks and then an update fixed it. (Survived by using the Meta + Spacebar search launcher and Ctrl + Alt + T to get into a terminal) So updates to fix issues come out somewhat quickly, but issues pop up too. I actually think it’s been pretty stable right now.

I use Fedora Worstation… Is stable, easy, robust… You don’t need to use the terminal… unless you want to. I’ve been using Fedora for 3 years and I don’t plan on change. I have two monitors with different resolutions, and they work perfectly. I play games too, some reciently AAA games. Unfortunately, games like Fortnite or PUBG don’t work on linux due to anti-cheat measures. But there are many other games to enjoy just as much.

Go with bazzite cuz when yiu download it from the website it’ll ask you if you want desktop or handheld edition. And you’re not gonna be able to play fortnite on Linux until fortnite adds support for Linux.

Bazzite is beginner friendly all the optimozations is already done so u don’t have to do nothing. But keep in mind to check which games you can play on Linux.

You can check on protondb.com

Bazzite is KDE plasma based, it’s a desktop with some additional tweaks and up to date functionality to run steam and games out of the box. It’s still virtually the same as Fedora. Good pick in my opinion.

I’ve never had those problems. I’m especially surprised by the boot script issue. Mint and Ubuntu are the main “beginners” distros. You’d probably be fine if you went with mint again. Pop_os is supposed to be good. I use EndeavourOS with kde plasma desktop and it’s fantastic. But you have to run the update script weekly to be safe.

Fedora - easy - https://umatechnology.org/getting-started-with-fedora/

Linux Mint - easier - https://helpdeskgeek.com/linux-mint-a-beginners-guide-and-pro-tips/

if Fortnite is a crucial element for you, and it sounds like it is, you’re going to have to dual boot.

Games like Fortnite, League of Legends, Valorant, Apex Legends, recent Battlefields, etc aren’t going to work on Linux due to the fact Epic, Riot and EA decided kernel level anti-cheats were their “best” options.

That being said the majority of games work on Linux and especially via Steam.

As far as Distros go Bazzite is primarily focused on gaming. If you want something that will do both gaming and work stuff then I’d suggest CachyOS. It’s fast, very fast, great for both work and gaming. It will give you plenty of options for Desktop Environments on install and I would suggest you install it with KDE Plasma so you have a bit of familiarity coming from Windows.