I decided to switch to linux as lately i don't have much time for gaming. So I finally have a valid excuse to stop using windows lol. So my questions are:
As Im a beginner to Linux, which would be best to actually learn the system?
Which distro is good for daily use?
Which best in terms of compatibility?
I know most of these are subjective, but I'd like to get an idea before i jump in.
The best distro I have found for day to day use is Opensuse. it has Yast which is a very nice control panel that minimizes the need for the command line. It also is built around BTRFS which is a very nice file system with snapshots.
If you want bleeding edge done easy Manjaro is the way to go. Sabayon also fills that need but is a little harder to use and Sabayon is gaming focused.
If you want a full ecosystem Ubuntu is the way to go it has been ported to phones and tablets with PC.
If going fully open source is what you want go Fedora
Debian is the most stable but stale of all distros and may not support new hardware unless you are running it in testing.
Mobile distro My favorite is sailfish it is kinda based on Opensuse and has a great GUI. Ubuntu touch ain't bad either.
Slackware is part of the dark arts
Gentoo and Arch are nice is you want to build something custom.
Something people don' always consider when they decide to switch operating system is putting time aside to learn (no one ever just knew how to use windows). So my suggestion would be to try a few different distros. They mainly differ in package manager, default install, and package support for various reasons.
OpenSUSE, and Fedora are the ones I normally suggest. Both have a good package base and good support.
Id pick one and stick with it for a few months to get used to how it works. And try a different one on a VM to see what others are like.
Ubuntu is nice. I havent had any issues with it. Plaenty of documentation for every system I have installed it on. More than likely someone will have had the same issue as you and they have typed up a small how to for it. Like every OS it takes a bit of time figuring it out. It aint windows lol
I've never tried Manjaro but ive heard good things.
Sabayon I haven't used in a while, its benefits in that it basically has the packages from getnoo just in binary format (its a large repo), I stopped using it a while back, I just didnt like it I guess.
Elementary OS, its really lagging behind, in updates and packages. I honestly would suggest avoiding it for now until they have another release. (the problem with release based distros, if they don't keep up they get out of date _fast_)
If you decide to try Fedora, you should find it easy to use. Install the rpmfusion repos if you want any non-free software (being new to GNU/Linux you probably will, I use them too)