I'm sick of Windows, and especially what it's become, and the way its trending looks like it will only get worse. I'll be building a brand new PC this summer and want to choose a Linux Distro instead. In preparation, I'd like to try out a virtual machine with a Linux distribution. I am solidly familiar with Ubuntu, but I think it's time to try something that may cater to my specific needs more.
I use my machine for work and gaming (mostly Steam). I am a fullstack software developer and use a second MacBook as well for my daily work needs.
I've had Manjaro, and OpenSUSE recommended to me by a friend who likes both of them but he doesn't game much and doesn't need various software development tools.
Are Manjaro or OpenSUSE good choices? I know there's a tonne of distros out there, and I'm trying to narrow things down a bit. Hopefully this community has some helpful advice.
Thanks in advance!
EDIT: First of all, thank-you everyone for your help and positivity. It's been less than a day and the amount of advice and ideas is fantastic. Not too mention the noticeable lack of negative comments (a huge reason I left reddit more than a year ago), thank-you all for reaffirming my reasons.
I've got to admit, I'm a little overwhelmed by all of the advice, but in a good way. I will be scrutinizing all of this advice and laying it out into a roadmap for both my distro testing, as well as PC building. You are all making this community a helpful and spectacular place. I hope one day to be able to pay it forward! Please keep it up!
What's with all the NDP hate here? They gave many Canadians free dental and many other (left-leaning) things through their coalition with the Liberals. I take issue with the premise of this post. Yes, the NDP are going to lose votes this election, but it's not specifically because they screwed up. It's because a lot of us are in a situation where the anti-vote for CPC pushes voters to vote Liberal when they would otherwise vote NDP.
I don't know if this is a trend that will continue. But if the Liberals had changed our voting system (like they promised) to something other than FPTP, no one here would need to cast anti-votes or strategic votes anymore. Or at least less often.
I'm lucky that in my area, my anti-vote, strategic vote and heartfelt vote all land on the same party. But most Canadians aren't.