Fedora, Ubuntu, Opensuse, Debian. Everything else are just derivatives.
Linux
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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This is the smart answer for people who understand things conceptually. But it's so much easier to just tell anyone who wants to try Linux to "just install Mint" and then they can distro hop later. You can't go wrong with Mint.
Unless gaming and using multiple monitors. That was my experience after a couple of months. Fedora, a few weeks in, has made things lot smoother. Otherwise though, Mint was great and with further Wayland I could see me use it again.
Just for choosing: https://distrochooser.de/ - or put some distros with a tool like Ventoy on a USB stick and do a live install to test it on the actual system. The many options are a great thing, but of course not easy to get into at first. So I'd try not to overthink it, distrohopping is a hobby for some of us :D
For trying out how it looks and feels: https://distrosea.com/
For understanding more about Linux: https://linuxjourney.com/
I can highly recommend linux journey!
I сrеаtеd а whоlе guіdе 2 уеаrs аgо, Кnоwіпg ехасtly thіs would happen with their "special" "security" chips like Pluton or proprietary form of TPM, and Al NPU chips that also exist on Google Pixels, for example. I will NEVER trust Google/Apple/Microsoft hardware. I also made this guide knowing in advance about the EOL for Windows 10, which still has over one year left.
And to all the FOSS zealots going around saying use this or that favourite distro, STOP. They should be the focus, not you. Windows users need the most well community supported, LTS tier stable distro that everybody develops for as first or second preference. Ubuntu LTS with GNOME fits the bill best. This is how I selected my first distro 7 years ago when jumping from Windows 7 to Linux, and successfully mitigated my Windows usage. Now I am a Debian Stable user since last year, since I gained enough knowledge.