Choosing the right distro all comes down to your own personal taste,
Which DE you prefer? GNOME, KDE, Cinnamon, Budgie, XFCE, LXDE, Openbox, I3, etc.
Do you prefer Long Term Support or Always having the newest updates?
And ofcourse, How skilled are you with Linux?

A DE or Desktop Environment manages your windows, your start menu, how you interact with the computer, They also come with a set of default applications. Do not look at the themes, colors, icons, etc, These can be changed in any DE.

If you have a fast machine you could run any DE without compromise, If you have to be careful with resources i would recommend a lighter DE.

Below i listed the most popular DEs, You can even choose to install a few and switch anytime at the login screen.

https://www.gnome.org/
GNOME is the default DE for most distros, and not without reason. It is a very stable DE, and very pleasing to the eye. There is not really a menu at least not in the traditional sense. It is a very different workflow, But once you get used to how it works it becomes a very next gen desktop experience.

https://kde.org/
KDE is a great Desktop environment that has a traditional Start menu like Windows. It is stable and easy to adjust to. It has a ton of default apps and some are even being used regularly on other DEs. The biggest advantage of KDE is how they don't sacrifice function over appearance. Where GNOME tried to hide stuff under menus, KDE places it right under your nose.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinnamon_(Desktop_Environment)
Cinnamon is a pretty cool DE based on GNOME. It made a lot of tweaks to make it more Windows user friendly. It brings back the start menu for example. It is developed by and the default in Linux Mint, It looks very nice and is used alot.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budgie_(desktop_environment)
Budgie is a fairly new DE. It is based on GNOME it added back a start menu and it looks very nice. It is developed by the Solus team, with some help from Arch and some other distros. It stands out as being a mix between GNOME and KDE. Familiar, Elegant and Functional.

https://mate-desktop.org/
MATE is a fork of a previous version of GNOME 2 that was replaced by GNOME 3 in 2011. MATE has had a lot of tweaks since that time and it has improved on the beloved Gnome 2.4.

https://xfce.org/
XFCE is a very lightweight DE that looks and works a bit like MacOS. It doesn't look that pretty but it sure is fast and functional. It has a start menu and everyone should be able to get around pretty quick.

https://lxde.org/
LXDE is another lightweight Desktop Environment It is very basic, It is no longer in development, The team moved over to LXQT. But it still is very functional, It is intended for older machines, even 20 year old machines should be able to run it without problems.

https://lxqt.org/
LXQT is another lightweight DE It is a merger between LXDE and RazorQT and is in active development, It is practically LXDE without GTK. It is a nice lightweight and easy to use DE. Even your old Pentium Laptop should be able to handle this.

http://openbox.org/wiki/Main_Page
Openbox is technically not a DE, It is a Window manager, It does not come with any applications like a normal DE and therefore not for beginners.It does not have a default layout, You start with a clean desktop, No bars, no menu, nothing. It is a DE you have to build yourself. It is incredibly customizable but it is not being used a lot.

https://i3wm.org/
I3 is technically not a DE, It is a Window manager, It does not come with any applications like a normal DE and therefore not for beginners. i3 is a very customizable WM. I think it is one of the more popular WMs for people who are into designing the best looking desktop.

We have 2 different release models; Rolling and Fixed.

Rolling distros are a Install once keep forever kind of idea. If a new version of a package rolls out it will get pushed to your machine in some distros within hours. The biggest advantage is having all the new packages and with that the best possible performance and compatibility. A downside is that you have to update your system a lot.

If you want bleeding edge and the best performance, Always running the newest packages go for a Rolling Release Distro.

Fixed distros run on a release schedule. Ubuntu for example gets a new version each 6 months, and every 2 years a version gets Long Term Support. That version gets 5 year support for people who don't like upgrading every 6 months, You only get Security updates in Fixed release models. The other packages only get updated when you switch to a newer version of your Distro.

If you are fine with a little compromise and don't want to update your PC twice every day go for a Fixed Release Distro.

Now it is important to think about what you want to do with your PC. If you just play games SteamOS is fine, but if you want to do other things besides games it is not a good choice.

It is also Important to know who is behind the distro, What are their values, what do they believe in, And see what matches best with your stance on the subjects.

And ofcourse it is imporant to think about your skill level. If you are a total beginner it might be good to pick a beginner friendly distro.

I would first choose between a Fixed or a Rolling Distro, Both have their own little section.

I would first look at the Desktop Environment. Write down the Distros that support your choices.
Next look at the skill levels and pick ones that may be suitable for you.
You should have a small list now, Pick the one that fits your beliefs best.

https://www.debian.org/
Debian is a very big distrobution, Ubuntu is even based on it. It is one of the most used and most Stable distros out there, It is not really fit for gaming but with the right skill you can make it that way. They support every DE, and probably have the largest repo of all.


https://getfedora.org/
Fedora is a community based distro sponsored by and based on Red Hat Linux. Even the creator of Linux himself uses Fedora, It is a very nice distro that does not really like proprietary software. Which is a pro and a con, Steam or the Nvidia drivers require some additional steps to install. It is the most stock GNOME experience there is, Very recommended, Just not so much for gaming.


https://linuxmint.com/
Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu, It is one of the most popular distros out there. They created the Cinnamon Desktop Environment which is based of GNOME. If you want a Cinnamon Desktop, Mint is propbably your best bet.


https://www.mxlinux.org/
MX Linux is a lightweight Linux distribution based on Debian that uses a slightly modified XFCE as their default DE. It is easy to install, is easy to use and easy to customize. It is not very optimized for gaming by default, But it is fairly easy to make it this way.


https://www.opensuse.org/
OpenSUSE is a very stable distro based in Germany, It is not the fastest, But it is very user friendly. It was the first company to market Linux for the enterprise business, and it is something they still do today. Their Desktop version benefits from this enterprise support, It has a great community and it is a very solid choice for a distro.


https://system76.com/pop
An Ubuntu based distro that is made to be extremely easy, It is developed by System76. It does not have the newest Kernel and GPU drivers by default. also Ubuntus stance on 32bit libraries might become a problem in the future unless PopOS decides to step up their game.


http://www.slackware.com/ (no SSL, yes strange I know)
Slackware Linux is the oldest Distro around. It started out as a hobby (Just like Linux) But people started using it, and people still use it today. It is a very difficult distro, Their package manager misses some basic features like dependancy resolving. Their Repos are also far from complete, It is a Linux distro that is for people who don't like the easy way. It is not far from Linux From Scratch.


https://psteamproxy.yuanyoumao.com/steamos
Valve's own Linux distro based on Debian, It has Steam pre installed and launches in Steam Big Picture Mode by default. It is very gaming centric, And if you are looking for a no maintenance Linux gaming console, it might be perfect. But if you plan to use your PC for multiple things it might not be the right choice.


https://ubuntu.com/
Ubuntu is based on Debian and many other distros are based on Ubuntu. It is probably the most used Distro, And has been the recommended OS by Valve. This is not the case anymore since Ubuntu will drop 32bit support in the future It is a fairly easy distro but it requires a lot of tweaking to optimize it for gaming.

I would first look at the Desktop Environment. Write down the Distros that support your choices.
Next look at the skill levels and pick ones that may be suitable for you.
You should have a small list now, Pick the one that fits your beliefs best.

https://www.archlinux.org/
Arch Linux supports every DE. It is community based it is always running the newest packages, Kernels GPU Drivers, etc. This allows for better performance in all games It has no GUI for the installer, So installing it requires a wiki and some patience, But in return you get a completely bare system and everything that will be installed will be installed by you personally. No Bloat, and Exactly to your liking.


https://www.chakralinux.org/
Chakra is based on Arch linux, but focusses on the KDE dekstop. It is half Rolling, So it keeps back some packages to not annoy you with loads of updates on a hourly basis. Chakra pushes them once in a while and only pushes important packages directly.


https://www.debian.org/
Debian is a very big distribution, Ubuntu is even based on it. It is one of the most used and most Stable distros out there, Ofcourse using the testing repositories removes some of that stability but it does make it a rolling distro. They support every DE, and probably have the largest repo of all.


https://www.gentoo.org/
Gentoo is a fast and flexible distro with the Gentoo non profit organisation behind them, it is focussed on speed and only using the minimal. It even encourages you to adjust the kernel to your needs, I don't know if people actually do it, I am sure there are some Die hard Gentoo fans out there.


https://manjaro.org/
An Arch based distro aimed to be easy for the average user. It gets the updates a little later than Arch. But it is very easy to use, All programs update with pamac which is an easy GUI package manager where you can install any package in a few clicks, Including Steam.


https://www.opensuse.org/
OpenSUSE is a very stable distro based in Germany, It is not the fastest, But it is very user friendly. It was the first company to market Linux for the enterprise business, and it is something they still do today. Their Desktop version benefits from this enterprise support, It has a great community and it is a very solid choice for a distro.


https://getsol.us/home/
Solus is a very nice distro, It is running release so you always get the latest packages. It does not have the amount of packages Arch does but all the needed apps are there, and if something is missing you can request for it to be added. There is also Steam integration which makes some things work better.

I hope this guide has helped you choose the right distribution.

If you have any suggestions or questions, please leave a comment.

Contributions are more than welcome,
Any DEs or Good Gaming Distros i forgot?
Nicer screenshots of the DEs to better represent them?