linuxmemes

hey, if you ever need advice on a decision, feel free to message me, i've built up quite a knowledge.
anyways:

first: choosing a Distro:
do you want something that just works, super stable and reliable, out of your way? choose Ubuntu (don't listen to the Elitists)
do you want something similar, just with more frequent updates? OpenSUSE
do you want something that's super reliable that never breaks and are willing to invest a few weeks relearning your computer? a Immutable Distro will do. i personally recommend and use NixOS, as it's the most reliable and unorthodox (a lot of overthrowing traditional convention on how to do stuff) ones of the bunch. but for something (much) simpler, use OpenSUSE MicroOS

next, the DE:
realistically you want either GNOME or KDE Plasma. i Personally like GNOME more, but KDE Plasma is just as fine. again, don't listen to any Elitists.

the Applications:
realistically you want to use Flatpaks. check the Flathub Setup guide on how to install it to your System.
installing Flatpak can never break your system, while installing through traditional package managers (apt, dnf, pacman, etc tec) might, if something goes very wrong.
Flatpaks are also updated more often, are (even if not as great as MacOS, iOS or Android) sandboxed (apps first need to get permission to do certain things such as use the Camera) and there are more people to help fix your problems.
snap are also great (again again, don't listen to the Elitists) but not a lot of apps seem to be made for it as Flatpak seems to have become the default.

now, a personal recommendation:
all the Elitists please look the other way now
i recommend you install fish and set that as your default shell.
it really is a lot better and user-friendly than any other shell there is.
this is the Link, use it or not, but i really highly recommend it. makes Terminal work just so much easier.

---------------------------------------------------- Opinion Part:

i personally use NixOS. however, i woudn't actually recommend it to you just now.
i reckognize that NixOS is very complicated at the Start and does a lot of things different and is very difficult to learn compared to other OSes (although after you get used to the System, it is a lot easier than normal Linux).
i still often have to look up Stuff, what config to use etc.
but i like the fact that all my stuff is saved in a single config and if i were to reinstall the whole system for some reason, everything would be right back to how i wanted it. (provided i changed it in the Nixos-Config File and didn't just do it in the Settings App.)
i like the fact that if i make a change on my Desktop, i can just synchronise the config-file with my Laptop, and violà, all the changes are now also on my Laptop.

but then again, i wouldn't recommend it to you, seeing that you're new.
i recommend either OpenSUSE Tumbleweed or OpenSUSE MicroOS. install Flatpaks and the FISH Shell and you're good to go for your adventure.