Mint 100% to start with, install Nvidia drivers if you have an Nvidia graphics card. Install and run a game though Steam or whatever and if all the hardware works and you can get the refresh rate you want you're good to go.

If not, install Fedora KDE and do the same.

If you still have issues on Fedora make another post here with some hardware details and say what you tried.

I use Pop! OS and I'm also a first time linux user! The installation process was pretty straightforward and I got used to it pretty quickly

Do you know anyone in real life that has some experience with Linux, and is willing to help you out with it? If yes, use the same distribution (distro, or "OS") as they do.

If not, as others said, Mint is a good start.

Mint or Fedora. You’ll get tons of responses, and none of them are wrong, because no one can tell you what’s best for you, but those are the most popular choices among newbies, and they are very user friendly and approachable.

The best advice I can give you is try a bunch of different ones and see which one you like best. They’re free and easy to reinstall if you end up liking one over another.

Best of luck and I hope you find one that you truly love. :)

I will be the black sheep that strongly recommend against Mint. I have had more hardware compatibility problems trying to run Mint than any other distro. This is anecdotal, but consistent enough that I would make bets on it. Secondly, I hate Cinnamon, the default desktop environment. There are better choices.

Instead, I’ll suggest Fedora KDE. It’s rock solid, reliable, and the KDE Plasma desktop is the best currently available whether you leave it stock or customize it.

If you want to try things out, set up a spare thumb drive with Ventoy, which will let you boot to any ISO you copy to it. Most distros have “live” versions that you can boot to from the thumb drive and try out before installing. That said, most linux distros install in 5 minutes, so don’t be afraid to try anything and everything you’re curious about.

Also, avoid Cachy or other Arch based distros for now. They are great, but a far more hands-on. Something for the future, when you are more comfortable with linux in general.

Lots of people are going towards ZorinOS, since Windows died with the canning of W10. However, I'd say go for Mint, as that doesn't implement the Snap packaging format (if you need GUI apps, go for Flatpak if you want them sandboxed).

editing videos

What program will you use?

I have heard that DaVinci resolve is very hard to set up. as for Kdenlive, I have used it few times, and it felt very clunky.

I would go with mint if you have older hardware and bazzite if you have new hardware (especially nvidia graphics card). If you really want windows-like layout check zorin OS.

for actuall advice: I would try a bunch of them and stick with one where video editing works.

I've been using Nobara, it's good, it has a dumbed down utility to help you install the important stuff. It's made for noobs, in a way. I recommend the Plasma desktop instead of Gnome, Gnome is super basic and inflexible. I'm using it because it has support for my wacom tablet but I miss KDE Plasma.

Just adding to the numbers recommending Linux Mint. Once it's set up you don't really need to fiddle with it much/at all. Software manager is easy to use to find what you need for your tasks.

Aurora, it's the desktop version of massively popular Bazzite (which targets gaming). That means you'll find tons of up to date tutorials online (Bazzite tutorials are usually applicable unless they are about the few features Bazzite and Aurora diverge specifically).

I explicitly advise against Ubuntu and Mint for the reasons I outlined here. Ubuntu and Mint have the added downside that almost none of the guides you'll find about SteamOS will work: Different desktop, different philosophy.

People need to realize that since the success of Steam Deck the "old classics" of newbie recommendations are out of the window and what helps these users the most is a Linux distribution as close as possible to SteamOS but SteamOS is not available for random PCs, so Bazzite/Aurora are currently the way to go. Personally I like Fedora KDE but I shifted my stance since the linked post and trying out Aurora.

Mint is popular for beginners. I went with Debian KDE because I wanted something a little more minimalistic and boring. Fedora and OpenSUSE are also good options.

If you want to stick with a Windows-like desktop, pick a KDE distro over GNOME.

Bazzite if you want gaming working well without adding packages manually.

Go with Mint until you learn more about how Linux filesystems work and then you can go wherever you feel comfortable. Mint just has a really easy install.

This question is probably as old as Linux itself. While many (me included) do not like Ubuntu anymore, I still think its a good operating system for newcomers to Linux. Not at last because of the community it has. Ubuntu is only by those dislike who are long enough in this game. There are also different variants with different user interfaces and such (like Kubuntu).

OpenSUSE, Fedora, maybe Ubuntu. I'd avoid immutable style distros like bazzite. They make things easier at the beginning but have other downsides where "normal" solutions need additional steps.