Linux

Depends. Whatever choice you pick - go with Plasma (KDE) desktop. Most of below choices have alternative desktop flavors that offer Plasma instead of Gnome.

If your goal is to play games - something like Bazzite might work.

If your goal is to have a desktop experience with some gaming, something like NobaraOS or PopOS would work.

If your goal is only desktop experience - ubuntu will work.

If your goal is to learn and have super awesome Linux desktop - Arch Linux.

Personally I am in Arch Linux for the past decade. Tried many different ones and Arch Linux is the only one that simply "just works" for me. Not suitable for beginners.

Kde plasma if you game

I use Fedora Silverblue personally (feels rock-solid and borderline impossible to mess up), but you might want to get more familiar with the basics before getting into immutable distros. I'd echo what everyone else is saying and do Linux Mint first

Zorin?

OP, everyone else is telling you to dual boot; I'm going to recommend against it.

Instead, one of your early projects should be setting up a virtual machine running Windows. VirtualBox makes it relatively easy to do this.

Two reasons. The lesser is that Windows likes to occasionally screw up your dual-boot setup, reverting it to a windows-only configuration. Removing it from the bare metal denies it the opportunity to screw up your machine, saving you a hassle.

The more important reason is that a Windows VM doesn't pull you out of your Linux environment. Windows becomes an application you occasionally run, rather than a full OS. You don't have to leave your Linux applications behind to get into Windows, just open it like any other app.

If you don't want to take that step yet, try setting up a Linux VM on your Windows box. Same idea, you're using both systems simultaneously, rather than one at a time. Windows Subsystem for Linux might be a good option for this, but VirtualBox is cross platform.

Mint 💯

It's probably been said, but Ubuntu or one of its variants is really the easiest way to go. Canonical has devoted a great deal of effort to making things easy and intuitive, and a complete novice should be able to get a fully functional system set up within 15 minutes.

Do it now

Anyone got love for Budgie?

Relax, Microsoft will eventually fix Windows 11, release a decent Windows 12 or extend the support for Windows 10 for so long you won't be needing Linux anytime soon. :P

My recommendation goes for Debian and install all your software using Flatpak. This way you can get a rock solid OS and all the latest software. Ubuntu might be interesting as it is mostly beginner friendly and has a more cohesive all-in-one solution ou of the box.

Fedora Silverblue if your wanting security and a "it just works" experience.

Linux Mint Debian Edition if you want stability and a traditional/familiar environment.

Vanilla OS Orchid should be a nice in-between once it releases.

version 6.6.10 is not bad, working great for me

Who**

Ubuntu, mint, pop os, and Manjaro are all good options IMO for new new people

Ubuntu

You know, as much as people here say they aren't happy with it, I haven't seen any specific complaints that detail the problems. What bad change does windows 11 even make from windows 10?

Not saying I don't see problems with windows, there are... A lot. But what are the new problems with windows 11?

Edit: to the people downvoting as if you disagree with me: I'm literally asking a question because I don't know much about windows 11. I am not trying to make any kind of statement for or against windows 11, I just don't know what the current flavor of bullshit is and wanted to.

I plan to do the same. Since all I do on my PC is play Steam games, I was thinking of going to SteamOS. No idea if that's even a good idea though.