Forgive the question, I have an idea of what I want to run on it (jellyfin, sonarr, etc) but I am having a hard time figuring out optimal OS to run.
Windows? Linux? Something else? Any beginner advice is welcome!
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Sounds like you’re just starting out. If you’re not yet familiar with Linux there’s a lot guides out there to set this up & it won’t take take long. It’s when things go wrong it can be frustrating as it possible there won’t be a guide for your specific issue & it can be time consuming to figure it out.
You could start just using windows if that pc came with it. It’ll enable you fast track the fun of building & populating the media server.
Over time you’ll discover the limitations of windows, start researching the alternatives & have plenty of time to pick something else while enjoying what you’ve already setup.