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 Lite version is made for old PC while the Pro version is just a way to supports the developement of the OS and basically brings 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 !

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 The UI is a bit old but not outdated and on Linux you can tweak it as your liking.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 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

A modified version of Fedora oriented to gamers and content creator (Out of the box DaVinci Resolve support) from Glorious Eggroll known for GE-Proton. The official version come with a modified GNOME DE that will be closer to a Windows UI/UI.

Worth mentioning : Bazzite

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 The default look is a bit outdated by default in my opinion but you're on Linux and their's tons of tutorial on how to customize it and make it looks more modern !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 user interface with macOS while not copying it and being super stable and suitable for beginners !

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 !

Powerful voxel art editor with 24-bit color support !

For 3D render and 3D animation. Nice UI, powerful tool and awesome community !

For making video games or 3D environment !

For story writing, plot making etc...

To quickly makes storyboard on PC !

A super simple video editor !

Worth mentioning if you need more advanced editing : Shotcut Kdenlive DaVinci Resolve

If you want to do 2D animation !

For making visual FX for movie production or videos.