as much i am enjoying pop!_os and used linux mint, i also like to explore other distros.
I love garuda. Zen kernel is god sent.
What does zen kernel do?
it is a optimized version made by a group of kernel hackers, according to phoronix the stable arch kernel is thr best, it performed better in most situations, so it is the specific use kinda of thing.
if u want want to delve into custom kernels and optimization i think you should try your luck compiling your own kernel, where you can weed out parts you don’t need, apply some optimizations confings and compile to target your cpu exact model
Try Nobara, it’s Fedora but with sane defaults. IMO it’s the best of the (relatively) stable distros. The main downside is that Fedora will remove x11 support in the future versions.
I’ve recently moved from Arch based distros because I was tired of having to fix minor crap all the time. I went through Debian, MX, Mint, and Opensuse during that period.
I like endeavor os. It’s a pretty easy way to get started with arch and it comes with some cool space theming.
This ones my favorite too. Basically just a pretty installer for arch, that helps you pick a desktop.
