An OpenXR streaming application to a standalone headset.

Stable - Not for cutting-edge hardware (except with new major upgrade usually) Now that ZorinOS 17 is out it is again a great recommendation as it update the kernel and brought more hardware support ! One of the most polished distro as of today ! The Pro version is optional and simply a way to supports the developement of the OS by basically bringing you premium layout such as macOS-like.

Howver when Zorin 18 will release you will probably have to pay again as it wasn't possible to upgrade from 16 Pro to 16 Core. It's based on Ubuntu (which is based on Debian) which have tons of ressources for beginners !

Stable - Not for cutting-edge hardware (except with new major upgrade usually) If you're a Windows 10 Kubuntu is a wonderful distro to start. It's based on the battletested Ubuntu just like Zorin with a familiar UX thanks to KDE Plasma, however you can easily customize it to your desires.

Stable - Not for cutting-edge hardware (except with new major upgrade usually) If you're a Windows 10 Linux Mint is a great start. If you have a good PC go with Cinnamon, if your machine is quiet old I'll recommend you the xfce edition. It's based on Ubuntu (which is based on Debian) which have tons of ressources for beginners ! The UI is a bit old but not outdated and on Linux you can tweak it as your liking.

If you want something different Fedora is probably the way to go now.

Worth mentioning : Pop!_OS (Ubuntu based)

If you are a macOS Guy (or Girl, or anything) elementary OS is the distro for you. The default look is a bit outdated by default in my opinion but you're on Linux and their's tons of tutorial on how to customize it and make it looks more modern ! elementary OS has the closest UX with macOS while not copying it and being super stable and suitable for beginners !

Based on Fedora, bazzite has become a popular distribution for gamers by providing a good OOTB experience with plenty of tools installed by default. While being a fairly young project you can't deny it's impact on the linux gaming community.

If you want to setup a gaming rig as a console in your livingroom or on a TV screen this is the distro to choose. AMD GPU only

Worth mentioning : Bazzite HTPC mode (AMD GPU only?)

A modified version of Fedora oriented to gamers and content creator (Out of the box DaVinci Resolve support) with the Cachy-Linux kernel. This distro is made by Glorious Eggroll known in the linux-gaming community for his work on GE-Proton. The official version come with a modified GNOME DE that will be closer to a Windows UI/UI.

A gaming distro made by a french community. Based on Nix this new linux gaming distribution is quite interesting.

Known for its accessibility towards noobs.

Known for its custom kernel.

Your default file manager should be fine but Dolphin could be nicer

Firefox is my go to browser for Linux don't forget to disable telemetry in settings and install uBlock Origin ! Arkenfox is a great ressource if you want to harden your FF browser !

Worth mentioning : LibreWolf Brave ungoogled-chromium + uBlock Origin

If like my you use multiple browsers daily this one will be useful. Set it as your browser by default and when clicking on a link it will prompt which browser you want to open. It let you also choose for other software such as email client, image viewer, file explorer, etc...

Worth mentioning : Braus for Arch users

An elegant music player !

Worth mentioning : Elisa

The king of media player !

Worth mentioning : MPV

If you read ePUB on your PC I would recommend you this one.

A nice e-mail client for Linux !

If the image visualizer that come with your distro not suit your needs look at the KDE one !

A PDF (and ePub/ebooks) reader for Linux !

You can choose between many different ways to install softwares on linux. It can be confusing for new comers ! I would personally recommend Flatpak first. It's universal (works with any distro), tends to deliver more up to date versions of softwares and integrate well with your default Linux App Store. Just download any flatpak from Flathub 's website, install it and now they should be added in your AppStore !

A simple download manager for faster and more reliable downloads.

The Launcher for Linux gamers. Enable Steam Play (Proton) in the steam settings and you will be able to play most steam games without any other tweaking !

Epic Games does not have Linux client so Linux gamers made one ! Works with GOG.com too and other stores.

Allow you to easily (most of the time) installing Windows games and software with scripts that will do every tweaking for you ! So you will not cry trying to do stuff with Wine

A mod manager for Thunderstore

A linux mod manager for NexusMods

If you want to emulate retro games this one is gold when you know how to use it !

The GUI app for Wine ! Wine is mandatory if you want Windows softaware/games supports. It's not super user friendly but thanks to tools like this one or Lutris it's easier.

If your friends game on PC, they probably use this one to communicate !

Collects and logs details about game performance in games using OpenGL/Vulkan. Can display live statistics in overlay.

Control your hardware with this free tool !

To backup your saves

To manage games backups !

If you have RGB on your gaming RIG this helps you manage them for any constructor like Razer, AORUS, ASUS, MSI, etc...

A great GPU app if you're on NVidia

A simple utility to configure Logitech steering wheels, for Linux.

If I have to do some image manipulation or photo editing ! (it's a WebApp)

If you need to create or edit vector images

If you do photography this is useful for photo editing !

If you want to draw !

If you want to create font and make typography !

If you want to do pixel art this one is gold !