Ubuntu or mint is a good beginners choice.

Once you get annoyed with snap packages or something else you can change it.

You don’t need to know how to code to use Linux. It helps to know how to use the terminal, but you don’t even really need to know that anymore either.

Mint is a great choice. Fedora is another great choice, and it’s what I use. IMHO, Cinnamon (Mint) and KDE are easier to use coming from Windows than Gnome (Fedora). So yeah, I’d agree with the sentiments you’ve read and cited in your post. You can also use Cinnamon or KDE on Fedora if you like though.

Mint is a great starting point. I might also recommend having a look at KDE (the desktop environment) which will feel very familiar coming from windows and is available on quite a few distributions. I use it with OpenSUSE Tumbleweed - less beginner friendly than Mint, but still an ok plafe to start.

I think the Ubuntu haters are overly enthusiastic. It’s perfectly fine. Actually pretty good.

Mint is extremely popular as a recommendation for good reasons as well.

Both have excellent support communities, which is important. Linux in general has become a lot more “plug and play” in recent years, meaning that it will do more of what you want right out of the box. In all likelihood, you will want to do something with it that requires help, so having a robust community makes a big difference.

First and foremost, you don’t have to stay on the distro you start with. You can try a few, spend a week running it, and then reinstall with something else. Distro hopping is the process if changing distro frequently and is in my opinion a very useful start for learning Linux.

Second, Ubuntu is a perfectly fine distro. I don’t like or use it, but I also don’t really like chocolate but love licorice, it really is a matter of preference. If you never try it you will never know if it is good for you.

I think the best path would be to either use virtual machines on your main system or try a few distros out on your Windows 8 machine. I would recommend trying a few of the most popular distros including Ubuntu, Mint, Fedora, EndeavourOS, elementary, and maybe Pop!OS. That should cover most of the different desktop environments, packaging systems, and overall design methodologies and give you a really rounded sense of what is out there. It should also give you opportunities to have things break a little and for you to try to solve those problems. I find that different distros present failures a little differently and their solutions also work differently, so finding one that works well for you is key.

I personally ended up switching from a vanilla Arch install to EndeavourOS a year or two ago because it had great sane defaults, good packaging, and fantastic performance. The clarity of the logs was better in my mind than what was available in Ubuntu based distros and while I love Arch it was a bit too demanding of my time to figure out each and every choice of package. EndeavourOS gave me good solid defaults and reduced my work load.

Just remember, your choice of distro is like your choice of underwear. You have to wear it, make it comfortable for you and your junk, not for someone else’s.

Mint is good. It might be worth trying a few different desktop environments to see what you like - you can probably run all of the major ones from a LiveBoot device.

BUT, and this is VERY important, ypu do not need to do any programming or coding on a Linux desktop. Ever.

If you’re not a programmer then you are never forced to peel that onion. You can do EVERYTHING from a GUI if you want.

You’ll lose the ability to run some games and software, but between alternatives and emulation, that list is getting smaller.

I run immutable Fedora distros (Bluefin, Bazzite) and they are the most stable distros I’ve ever used. Immutable distros restrict writing to sensitive parts of the OS so you’re less likely to break things. You’ll mostly install Flatpaks which looks pretty similar to using the Windows app store.

I’ve seen some people say that immutable distros aren’t good for beginners. I’m really not sure why. My best guess is because they’re not the norm and you might run into support issues if things do go wrong.

If all of that sounds too scary then Linux Mint is a good choice. Never used PopOS myself but I hear that’s a good starter OS too.

I don’t understand coding either and I’ve installed different Linux distributions before! You can do it! Are you perhaps confusing coding with running commands in the command line? Because even running commands may not be necessary for a graphical installations like the aforementioned Linux Mint, Pop OS or similar.

I will say the nice thing about picking a popular distribution like Ubuntu, Mint, or Pop! OS, is that it’s easier to find solutions to problems, because it’s more likely that someone has posted about it online and found a solution

How did you use Windows without understanding coding? lol

Some great responses here. One thing I’d add is while Mint is considered “beginner friendly”, it’s still a Linux based os. If you decide you want to get into more advanced topics in the future (programming, networking, etc.) you can absolutely do those things with Mint if it’s the distro your comfortable with. You wouldn’t be stuck with an os with limited functionality in that regard.

Pop os

Yes. I main Mint in my laptop, and it’s been my go-to for general purpose use (gaming included) for the past 10-15 years. On servers I prefer other distros, but Mint has consistently been the one that works best out of the box in a laptop desktop environment.

Parroting the no need to code.

Follow the comments about trying a distro/type of Linux.

Something you may not know is what is called a live disc. You can run a type of Operating system without installing it. This lets you try it out without actually installing anything. However know that if you install a program to try out it will it safe when you reboot or shut down.

Please use this. NetBoot.xyz

It essentially lets you burn a cd that you boot from. This then lets you try out countless types of Linux before you install them. This way you don’t need to burn 20 discs or flash a new usb drive each time you want to try a different Linux.

You won’t run in to coding.

Having decision paralysis? Best to just pick an option and do it. Expect it to go wrong and be pleasantly surprised when it diesn’t. Don’t try to plan it all out. Doing is the best learning. Unsure about something? Press enter and see what happens. Start over if you have to.

Pick Mint. It’s a good start. load it to a USB, reboot, find the boot menu, boot the USB, let the installer guide you. Have another device handy for internet searches if something confuses you. At this point, If for some reason you wanna try another distro, go ahead! Doesn’t hurt to reinstall and try out.

You don’t need to do any coding or have any experience in coding. Linux is for everyone and doesn’t need any special skills or knowledge to use it. Everything can be done with a mouse and keyboard just like Windows.

You can install Linux exactly as you would Windows - stick in a USB stick and follow the prompts. You can even try Linux using live USB sticks although it’ll be a little slow to load compared to an actual install (as USB sticks are generally slower than hard drives).

Linux Mint is a good place to start. It’s user friendly and stable, and there are lots of guides out there if you need help, even just to install it.