I'm in a similar situation. I've used Kubuntu (Ubuntu + KDE) for more than a decade now, and it has mostly worked beautifully. Over the years, memorable problems were a few issues with GPU drivers, GRUB shenanigans and the occasional amateurish KDE UX fuckup. But in general I found the whole experience much better than what I saw on Windows during the time.

However, for a while now Ubuntu is breaking my #1 rule of software products: Do not annoy your users. Every update they are trying to push (and fix) their useless Snap architecture a bit more, and every updates makes things effectively worse. Examples: displaying annoying popups to tell you that Snap app x needs to be updated and that the app has to be closed for that, but not updating it when closing the app, trying to fix that in the latest version by auto installing the latest snap with a popup and progress bar when closing the app (making me wait to turn off my computer till it's finished - I just finished my work and want to go home please), numerous interoperability issues because snap apps run in some kind of sandbox and don't play nice with regular (Debian and Linux) mechanisms, and so on. It's an absolute shitshow, and I think they have now annoyed me, personally, long enough. I need to find something better.

Ah. I just needed that off my chest. Maybe I should give Mint a try

Fedora, Mint, or Pop. Hell, give BSD a try!

If you're used to Debian based distros, Linux Mint. I personally use OpenSuse if you want to check something different.

I've been using Fedora Core since 2004 and it seems like it's mostly worry free for me, but then again I remember the olden days when I needed to spend significantly more time on getting stuff to work. I think it helps to use mainstream hardware as well. I've been running thinkpads for years now and I think that probably helps with compatibility. I also tend to run refurbished older hardware because it's cheaper and I don't need bleeding edge performance.

My go to back in The Day was just Ubuntu because I was lazy.

So we have a bias towards Debian-based distros.

it’s not been playing nice with my Zen 4 desktop when it comes to ACPI power states (no sleep, doesn’t reliably turn the power off when i ask it to turn off, etc).

However, a newer kernel is definitely preferred.

is also something based on a normal distro that most people write guides for because I am a smoothbrain.

And finally, healthy access to documentation.

Based on the above, I would not pick:

• Debian Stable or any distro based on it. They ship with the 6.1 kernel, which launched only a couple months (January 2023) after the launch of Zen 4 (September 2022). I'm aware that access to newer kernels is possible. However, at that point, why even bother with Debian Stable to begin with?
• While both of Debian's Testing and Sid/Unstable branches have access to newer kernels from the get-go, distros that ship the latest kernel by default (e.g. Arch, Fedora, openSUSE Tumbleweed and their derivatives) are simply better for offering an end-user product.
• Arch, Fedora, openSUSE Tumbleweed and their derivatives are primarily dismissed for not being based on Debian. Though, the fact that they're more towards the rolling release side of things does play a minor role as well. By their very nature, they will change. Hence it's less ideal for "set-and-forget" setups.
• Pop_OS!' team seems to be primarily focused on delivering their upcoming COSMIC DE. For this reason, the distro has been in relative limbo. Therefore, I can't recommend it.
• TUXEDO OS is dismissed for being relatively unpopular. Lots of other Debian(/Ubuntu) derivatives are dismissed for various reasons.

Let's get to the actual recommendation, Linux Mint seems to be tailor-made for your use case:

• Based on Ubuntu, but without Snaps. While you can choose to use Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE) instead, that one doesn't come with the latest kernel. So the recommendation is for (standard/vanilla) Linux Mint.
• Their forums are full with up-to-date and (relatively) well-written guides; while the excellent ArchWiki is arguably better, Linux Mint isn't a slouch either. Furthermore, as Linux Mint is very popular, you can simply expect to find solutions to most things that might come up.

I've never really used Linux as a daily driver. Back in the same Ubuntu period as you, intrialled it but got sick of software compatibility problems. So much is cloud web based these days, that it's less of an issue.

What surprised me as a distro hopped looking for my home laptop flavourz was how different it was to install different software, such as docker. Some distros it was a hassle to run well. Some it needed workarounds, whichh surprised me.

So, I'd look at what you plan to run, then decide between opensuse, pop, mint or fedora and how easy they support what you want to do. I dipped back into Ubuntu but they have started to make some m$ style choices where you have to take back control as they try to make your PC act like they want not how you want.

All can be made to support whatever you want but not all do our of the box.

At this point, I am an LMDE shill because it works so well for my non-tech wife. She has only had to use the terminal 3 times since I installed it for her in the summer and most of what she needs for day-to-day desktop computing came pre-installed.

It "just works," even for multi-monitor setups, which I thought it would have trouble with.

Any major distro should do it imo. Personally I run Fedora because I tried it out years ago and I'm past the distro hopping phase. It just works™ (most of the time, as every distro).

PopOS is getting traction, and I think it's deserved. I only use it on my gaming rig and never had major problems. Based on Ubuntu if I recall so the majority of Ubuntu tutos should be compatible.

I tried ZorinOS as well. It's paid (10 bucks per major version if I recall), but it's surprisingly stable and well fleshed out. It aims to mimic Windows or MacOS design out of the box, for people that migrate to Linux. They have a free lite version. Based on Ubuntu as well. The only reason it's not my main OS is because Fedora is already installed on my main rig and I'm lazy.

As suggested, Debian is still its old self, and it's a good thing. The stability thing although means that you won't get the latest bells and whistles. On the other end of the spectrum there's Arch but it's far less "set and forget" than the other distros. At least it's longer to set, harder to forget. I would rather go with Manjaro, with which I had a really good experience years ago, never any major struggle. But It still needs a bit of minimal maintaining.

Years ago, when Ubuntu started their Unity and Amazon partnering bullshit, I switched to Linux Mint. I don't know how it is today, but at the time it was the go-to replacement for Ubuntu: all the advantages without any of the inconvenient.

Honestly, just pick one of the major ones, try it in a live environment to be sure the defaults suit you, and you should be good to go for years.

Immutable fedora works well for me.

I use this specifically:

https://getaurora.dev/

Set and forget: Arch Linux. There might be much setting involved, but you can forget later.

Don't even set and you can forget: Linux Mint.

Linux Mint and PopOS are usually listed as friendly distros and are derivatives of Ubuntu without Ubuntu controversies like Snap. Mint even has an alternative direct Debian base skipping some Ubuntu packages, so might be ironically closer to old Ubuntu in that flavor.

If you're open to going non-debian, Manjaro is often sold as the more user friendly Arch. (Edit - a recent Manjaro controversy has people recommending EndeavorOS instead for an Arch wrapper. I've not tried that one myself).

Debian or Arch aren't bad to use directly either and are far more newbie friendly than they were a decade ago even if not as out of the box opinionated as their derivatives.

I may sound like an asshole, but before Linux Mint, I would seriously think to go with Debian with KDE. I don't see any downsides, and there are many upsides.

Considering your previous experience with Ubuntu, I would recommend Debian. Just make sure to get the right ISO for what you want.

Since you're complaining about Ubuntu not working with ACPI power states, my next recommendation would be Endeavour to be more up to date and get fixes and stuff sooner. It's pre-configured Arch.

All the good stuff from Ubuntu has mostly been upstreamed into Debian. And Debian's rekease cycle is much faster these days than it was back then. So, just run Debian.

Should I just head to using basic plain jane Debian or something?

Every time I try a new distro I end up back on Debian. It just works.

I recommend Arch and KDE. The community to docs are really good. It's a rolling release distro, so always up to date.

https://youtu.be/FxeriGuJKTM?feature=shared

Should I just head to using basic plain jane Debian or something?

👌

Pop OS is a good choice

I run PopOS on two notebooks (thinkpad, MacBook air) for about a year now and so far everything worked. Printer needed some fiddeling

I've been using ParrotOS as a daily driver and it's been good to me. I don't need much though. Based on privacy and security and for that field of work. They have a pen test version and a home DD version.

pop os or fedora

Which distros aren't set and forget?

I use Arch btw