Slightly off topic, but whatever distro you choose you probably want to use the kernel parameter amdgpu.abmlevel=0 because without it the display gets super washed out and low contrast when the laptop is in power saving mode which drove me insane until I figured out that parameter.

I run Garuda on my 16 and my desktop PC.

It’s basically a KDE-centric Arch build but with some quality of life tools and XTREME GAMER default theming, plus you’re not legally required to say you’re using Arch all the time.

No complaints so far. Sure, you’re expected to update all packages on your computer about once per day but I find that process to be fairly smooth. You can always configure your desktop to stop looking like a bordello for dragons and I rather like how garuda-update automates some of the housekeeping involved with the package manager.

If I had to pick a different distro I’d probably try out something immutable but so far I have no intention to switch.

Mint personally didn’t stick with me, and I settled on Kubuntu. I felt like troubleshooting ended up being a lot more opaque and frustrating on mint than on kubuntu, and I felt like there were a lot of little accessibility features that were missing on mint.

Kubuntu (KDE in general) is more overwhelming at first, but I feel like it’s much more of a “set it and forget it” experience

Ive been using Gnome with Fedora ever since I switched to Linux. So far it has been smooth sailing. I would say the choice of distro doesn’t matter that much, both Mint and Fedora are very easy to use. Just pick one with the Desktop Environment you like the most. If you are not sure, test them on a Virtual Machine.

After Ubuntu for many years I switched to Arch because they packaged a number of things I wanted that Ubuntu did not.

If you are happy with Ubuntu stick with that. I have friends and family that use it and it’s fine.

Mint if you are coming from Windows.

Pop!_OS if you are coming from Mac.

Pop!_OS on a Thinkpad has been my daily driver for five years now. Not a single problem, ever. Rock solid.

Mint is my goto for newer Linux users, and users that want something that #justworks.

I use Mint on all my personal laptops with the default Cinnamon desktop environment and it’s always incredibly stable.

Mint just announced a few weeks ago that they are partnering officially with the Framework team to make sure compatibility is top notch, so the already good compatibility will become even better over the coming months and years.

The only real downside with Mint, and specifically Cinnamon, is that it looks a little dated. You can get it looking pretty modern and clean, but it doesn’t look nearly as modern and sleek as KDE Plasma or Cosmic. It doesn’t look bad though, and honestly, when I need to just get work done, I don’t need it looking ultra sexy-sleek.

I’ve used UbuntuDDE and Manjaro, and they both ran fine, although that was back on my Intel mainboard. Now, on my AMD mainboard, I currently use ZorinOS and my roommate uses Kubuntu on his. I didn’t need to switch, I just wanted to check out Zorin again. You used to have to run a script to install an OEM kernel but I think as of some recent updates that’s no longer necessary. My only negative is the battery drains a lot in sleep mode, so it’s better to shut down.