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Just made the switch to Nobara Linux on my desktop and ill probably go with Mint on my ancient laptop tomorrow. My only hang up was games but it seems like compatibility is a lot better nowadays so hopefully I can fully switch over. Same for windows only programs and Wine.
I only had a couple programs holding me: Fusion 360 and Windows 3D Builder.
Then I found out there's a functional snap pack for Fusion 360. Now I just have to come up with a solution for Windows 3D Builder.
And the reason I use Windows 3D Builder is for 1 feature: it's model repair function is far and away the best I've used for broken 3D models.
No idea if this will work for 3d builder but thought I'd mention it, Winapps
As Nobara is Fedora based and Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu/Debian, perhaps stay in this eco system and use some Fedora spin/derivate on the Laptop as well.
Good luck with the transition away from Windows!
Run Fedora KDE on my 2016 MacBook Pro, runs amazingly.
Personally, I use KDE on Debian and it works great on my 2011 Laptop.
I just think, especially for a beginner, remembering the 'under the hood' commands, e.g. package managers, different preconfigurations of installed packages e.t.c., for such different distributions is probably quite challenging.
How's it with NVIDIA hardware?
I've been using Mint for about 6 months now and it works with Nvidia just fine BUT the new user experience isn't great. You have to use the nomodeset kernel option and install Nvidia drivers, otherwise you'll boot to a black screen.
Helpful guide: https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=421550
I had an nvidia card in my possession briefly recently. when I was testing it I found distros that have a separate nvidia installer image are the way to go if you dont want to have a shit time. Converting a standard image post install is about as much of a shit task as it was back when I had a gtx 460. once its set up either way it seems mostly fine but I already had a more recent amd card and don't want to deal with the kernel module crap. dkms has failed me a few times in the old days and I never forgave it.
Yeah, I don't fully understand why Nvidia cards have this problem on first setup with so many distros. On Windows, the default display driver can at least boot with reduced resolution on most cards made in the last 15 years until you install proper drivers. It seems like the Linux kernel and common desktop environments ought to be able to do the same.
Maybe this is better in the 6.x kernel, I haven't tried it. I'm not too much of a tinkerer, so the bleeding edge doesn't interest me. I just want a good shell, POSIX for personal coding projects, and the ability to play games on Steam. Mint is great for that once you get past the initial display driver issues.
Im on AMD so can't help with that