Linux

I switched to Linux and have no issues with gaming. There are a couple of settings that need tweaked in steam, but it doesn't take a computer genius to figure it out, just follow a guide or video.

For a beginner something like Mint might be the easiest transition. I went with Garuda myself, and it's worked well, but I feel it's probably a little less intuitive that something like Mint.

For gaming, look into proton, and how to have your games run with it and you'll probably be fine. Keep your windows key on hand in case you decide to revert.

to use as a media centre and multiplayer gaming system in my living room

Based on this, you're basically looking for the 'game console experience on your couch'. If that's the case, honestly you shouldn't look beyond^[1]^ Bazzite.

If, instead, you actually wanted to play retro games primarily, then please let us know.

1. While ChimeraOS and HoloISO also offer the 'game console experience', they don't support Nvidia GPUs. So you would be on your own at best; which would be a horrible experience for a new user. If you feel particularly adventurous, then Jovian-NixOS is actually another option. But arguably less newbie-friendly compared to Bazzite.

I'd say Pop_OS! which has a spin (version) with Nvidia drivers already installed. Below is a direct link. It's based on Debian, so it enjoys excellent app support. Linux Mint is also a good choice.

https://iso.pop-os.org/22.04/amd64/nvidia/35/pop-os_22.04_amd64_nvidia_35.iso

There's no that much difference between distros except for the package manager. Choose whichever one is best for you.

Easy mode: LMDE/Mint. They are all geared towards a good user experience and trying to keep you out of the terminal. I would recommend them to any new Linux user.

For a slightly more advanced experience, Debian with XFCE as the desktop. The installation is slightly less friendly and they expect you to be familiar with using the terminal and tinkering with the guts of your OS from time to time but you can have a 'lighter' installation with less background services. (I run Debian on all my machines so I have a bias towards Debian and LMDE).

Nobara! For gaming it is just incredible. But if you have an old GPU any distro is ok I suppose, maybe Mint?

Nobara could be a great choice for your setup. It's a version of Fedora, made by a very well respected Fedora team member, setup with gaming in mind. It comes with many of the drivers you'd have to download using most other distros. Being Fedora based means you can tinker with anything you wanted to change. I recommend the KDE spin, KDE is known as the swiss army knife of environments. It's super intuitive too. I'm actually in a bit of an emulator phase right now, I have had zero issues using KDE Fedora while figuring it all out!

I’m also looking for general tips and advice for beginners if anyone has some to share.

The only thing that is stopping a Windows user from becoming a Linux user is the package manager -- learn how to use it in the cli. Then the "rest' should be an obvious, flat curve (which "package" goes for video card, audio, etcetc).

If your main concern is UI distro doesn't really matter, the thing you need to think about is desktop environment, most big distros let you choose from a few

TL;Dr I would suggest looking for a distro with kde plasma as it's quite customisable and looks quite clean out of the box. Personally I prefer gnome out of the two but you definitely hit a wall eventually customising it

Gnome is what Ubuntu and fedora use by default I believe and looks somewhat like Mac (but is fairly distinct from everything else, you kinda have to see for yourself)

KDE Plasma is what the steam deck uses in desktop mode and looks kinda like modern windows.

Cinnamon is what Linux mint uses which also looks like windows 10 and is designed to appeal to windows users

Pop!os recently released their own DE called cosmic, but they were originally using their own customised version of gnome

@BroBot9000 cool. Thanks @alt for the link to Jovian, this might an opportunity to tinker with NixOS... Do you know how nvidia cards is supported ? (nouveau driver is ok for my kind of use).

@flashgnash thanks for reminding me the Pop_OS option... do you know if you can configure Steam to start on big picture mode to start on boot ?

HoloISO is SteamOS for non Steam Decks. That would be great option for something that "just works" and is designed for use from the couch with a controller. I haven't tried this but I'm sure there's a way to install Kodi for media too.

Just install your fav distro and install whatever you need