Heard good things about PopOS. Added to the list. Thanks!

I just got a system76 machine last week and I am happy with it.

Generally not a fan of Ubuntu or derivatives, I am am a long time Arch user. Pop OS is a solid experience though. Winning me over.

I think Mint is excellent for beginners as well.

I am kind of at the point I life where I don't like recommending distributions to people because they are so many different ones there is (probably) a fit for each individual person. It would be like someone recommending boxers or briefs to me. Who are you to say how my junk is handled? I mean it is great if you have a preference, and thanks for sharing. It's great for the sake of discussion. May I will try something for the first time and like it.

Two things are really don't like are KDE, and Snap, which of course aren't distro specific but I will probably never use those ever in any distro again, but other than that the best thing to do is try a bunch out and see what fits.