Linux

It's basically Nobara, but properly done. (If you choose the desktop version)

It gets updates automatically (max one day after upstream Fedora), has everything you want ootb in the first start wizard, is more secure, and much more.

I was very sceptical at first, but after trying it out, I really noticed some minor performance improvements in games and many QoL improvements, e.g. the preinstalled LACT, which allows me to set up fan curves and over-/ underclock my GPU.

Setting up my new PC took me about half an hour maximum.

9/10, I highly recommend it to anyone who wants a smooth gaming experience.

Have not tried immutable distros, but I like the idea that the core OS is read-only to prevent a rookie user from messing things up.

Then again, if the core OS is read-only, is it at all possible to modify some system files like fstab files to auto-load drives?

They really are! Love that it's even possible to make your own image with on tweaks and such, really cool.

Yeah ive never been a fedora guy in the past but I'm really loving everything that comes from ublue.

Are u sure it didn't shut down when you were away?
uBlue updates itself, yes, but the updates are staged and need a reboot to apply.

Bazzite also has the backing of a bigger group of developers and community. Whereas Nobara is developed by a solo (kudos to him). But I would say Bazzite differs quite a bit too with its immutability, automatic updates, and thanks to libostree technology, after every update the previous version of the operating system is retained on your machine. This means, should an update cause any issues, you can select the previous image at boot. Additionally, it has support for gamescope, meaning Steam can boot straight into Big Screen mode, which is very handy for gaming pcs and steam decks etc.. Can read the rest of the details over at bazzite.gg, if you're not convince :P

Immutability, mainly.

I don't know if its still the case but originally Nobara was a "this is for me but you can use it too" type of project.

It is true that Bazzite had some bluetooth issues, if that's what you're referring too. Personally, got hit by this too, but can warmly say that none of those issues remain on their latest 3.0 version. PM me if you need help setting it up or have any questions :)

If you are like myself and use your PC mainly for gaming, and your laptop just for casual use (watching videos, writing notes, etc.), then you can also take a look at Bluefin (Gnome) or Aurora (KDE).

It's a "replacement" for the stock Fedora Silverblue/ Kinoite with QoL stuff and on the spectrum between Bazzite ("bloated") and the uBlue base image (extremely lean, missing a few standard apps by default) and gives you the choice between "I'm a casual user" (-> only what you need) and the "developer edition", which includes some IDEs and stuff.

I like it a lot and think of it as "Bazzite, without gaming stuff". Maybe you'll like it too!

You could give the uBlue builder a shot, which can do exactly that.

But I think NixOS is a better choice for a tinkerer like you :)

So I'm not the only one who feels lost with Bazzite, even after years tinkering with other distros?!

I need to sit down and try to wrap my head around the file structure, it just feels completely different except for the home dir.

It won't transform the old device into a gaming beast, but if you do some lighter gaming with it, why not just try it? :)
If you don't like it or want something more vanilla/ general purpose, you can always rebase to other Fedora Atomic variants, e.g. Silverblue, Kinoite, uBlue community images (Secureblue, Deepin, etc.) anytime you want! This changes the "flavor" (basically like switching from Linux Mint to Kubuntu by reinstall) without loosing any data or settings with one command. It's so fucking great!

I've never personally used Gnome so fotm know how to navigate it. But I am sure this is something you should be able to do disable. I'd look either in shortcuts, workspace or gesture settings maybe?