Howdy folks-
(Couldn't find a Beginners sub-forum so i apologize to moderator and ask this letter be moved to ideal location.)
I'm a would-be emigre from Windows, seeking the least painful distro and DE. So far that seems to be Ubuntu (most support anyway) and of
course Plasma 5.
Any suggestions on distro? I'm looking at ZeroLinux, WindowsFX, Feren, XaOS, Zorin and Cutefish but i seek your expert advice.
(I'm also looking for most windows compatibility but that seems down to Wine, which doesn't run any better on any particular distro, and ReactOS has been stalled for years.
Anywho- thanking you in advance....
marni
Noob in Vancouver Skeleton walks into a bar, orders a beer and a mop.

Ubuntu, Manjaro, Fedora all easy to install. The Problem in the beginning, to have a lot of choices. Take calm, first installation make under Windows in VirtualBox. To try every Distribution in VirtualBox is without risk. So you can study with every step and look if you can handle it. Please enjoy Linux, every beginning had his difficulty. Step by step you will learn more, and you will see, Linux is easy to use with his fantastic community.

I appreciate your welcome but i didn't ask about installers (i assumed most are at least semi-friendly), I asked if any particular distro worked best with Plasma. I guess if nobody answers (on topic!) i'll have to assume they're all about the same.
Thanks for responding.

marni wrote:Howdy folks-
(Couldn't find a Beginners sub-forum so i apologize to moderator and ask this letter be moved to ideal location.)
I'm a would-be emigre from Windows, seeking the least painful distro and DE. So far that seems to be Ubuntu (most support anyway) and of
course Plasma 5.
Any suggestions on distro? I'm looking at ZeroLinux, WindowsFX, Feren, XaOS, Zorin and Cutefish but i seek your expert advice.
(I'm also looking for most windows compatibility but that seems down to Wine, which doesn't run any better on any particular distro, and ReactOS has been stalled for years.
Anywho- thanking you in advance....
marni
Noob in Vancouver Skeleton walks into a bar, orders a beer and a mop.

Any of the major distros with large user bases will be better for using Plasma, and general user support. Those niche 'oddball' distros you list, much less so.
The reason for suggesting to try them in a virtual machine is because installing the distro, and general under-the -hood, day-to-day management of the OS itself, is what separates things here, for the most part. And the only way to determine what is better for YOU is usually by using different ones.

Also, in the desktop Linux world, there will be 13 different "best distros", and and exponentially large number of fanboy opinions on each one.

So, in no particular order (if you trust me )

These come with Plasma by default:
KDE Neon
Kubuntu
Manjaro
OpenSUSE

These have Plasma easily available, but don't have a Plasma-specific focus so much, but are still quite excellent for running it:
Fedora
Arch

I hear you on the fanboy matter. It was a good reminder not to go by 'slightly optimistic' claims!
I'm assuming that forum size and noob-helpfulness are what i should select by.

"These come with Plasma by default:
KDE Neon
Kubuntu
Manjaro
OpenSUSE"
Of your 5, which do you think has the largest forum? (or are they all about the same?)

I'm attracted to CuteFishOS. Yes, it's a new "oddball" distro but is being launched/sponsored by Manjaro, which is on your list.
"It is even possible to install a Manjaro .iso with CutefishOS prebuilt." (But would that preclude/omit Plasma??) And of course it's built on Arch.

Thanks for responding again- this one was far more helpful. Gracias!

Marni in Vancouver

I think therefore i am, in trouble.

(But would that preclude/omit Plasma??)

Yes, as cutefish is not Plasma, it is a new, separate desktop environment still under development.