Try out Arch Linux ! Even from the installation process your skills are being tested . It has best documentation among all other distros.

Arch Linux's repositories contains latest packages but aware they aren't tested well but mostly works fine! Arch Linux follows a bleeding edge update mechanism , which means you are using the latest version of OS always !

I think I'll write a short article about this, it was so hard choosing but in the end I went for Linux Mint (Tessla MATE edition) due to it being so lightweight.

So now I have dual boot with Windows :) I think Virtual ware and machines are okay if you are sand-boxing a small system or small development but if you're looking to run Visual Studio inside.. It's a no go at least for my machine.

but thank you all for the recommendations!

I use Mac Os & Windows 10 for developing platform , and deploy project mostly to Ubuntu server, and I meet some people said Arch Linux is good, I kind like agree what they said, However, I am quite satisfy for what I use now, I am not a system developer but web back-end and front-end.I think if you are a system developer may be Arch Linux is great for you.

If you want to better know your system: Arch Linux is the best ;)

I personally recommend Pop_Os from system76, based on Ubuntu it's a nice distro to use.

If you do need Windows, WSL may cover your needs. I'm trying to get along with a Win10 WSL setup at the minute, it's fine, yet Linux just feels right in comparison.

Ah! My biggest headache. I have been trying, trying then trying again to move to linux for good but only it lasts few weeks or a month and after frustration and disappointments went back to windows. I am a windows user for many many years ( since 3.1 ) and every time I get a new setup or machine gets to a point where screams for a good-ol'-format and reinstall, I tell myself, this time I will install linux and force myself to use it to get used to it. I do use them day-to-day in servers, what could be the difference right? But most of the time I get frustrated with simple things like 'machine has nVidia something and unix has no support for 2 monitors for this type of crap' or `arghh why is this IDE can't autocomplete like storm' ... then same story, format, reinstall windows, get all the tools and stuff back together... few months later, I need to format this machine, should I give another shot to linux? Last time it was ubuntu, let me try debian distro this time.....

Then I found docker. OMG what a great invention of the century. I can have everything that I want from a unix platform, I can have bunch of them run all of them at the same time and still use windows along with them.

I sense a lot of wisdom in this thread.

Now, if I was to go back to Linux (switched to Mac after years of Linuxing) AND I had the urge to play games which can be run only on Windows, I'd (personally) do the following:

• Dual boot Windows and Ubuntu
• Ensure that Linux installation is encrypted
• Install Dash to Panel extension
• Make setup as similar as possible
• Boot Windows only for gaming
• Get me some piña coladas :)

firstly, what are you planing on using it for? secondly, if you want to learn linux, choose any version you like, you can even try tails, for privacy or Elemntary OS. But you could go for the old debian or you can get a win 10 with either vagrant or docker on it and test any linux versions you like. if you have somewhat of a experience, start with debian. It will put your experience to use.

Thats what i think

I think, with Linux Distros, it's not about some list, but about you! Do you like Mint? Why do you want to change away? What are you looking for in a Distro? If you can answer this question, it is way easier to find another Disto to test.

I've heard Debian is at the top but its alot more advanced

Not really... Mint is based on Ubuntu and Ubuntu is based on Debian, so you already have a flavor of a flavor of Debian 😂 However, if you do like the apt package manager, you might go for Ubuntu or Debian to see the differences.

Keep in mind, though, that a distribution mainly consists of the very low-level stuff. You should change the distro if you don't like the package manager or how the base-system is managed or if you don't like a Distro's politics.

If it's just a part of the software on top, you can stick to your current Distro and change parts and pieces to see if you can get a better fit. For example, if you don't like how your Desktop behaves, why not change out the DE? Use KDE, give Gnome a try, have you heard of Cinnamon? Many people use MATE... etc.

However, if you want a wildly different flavor of Linux, I recommend going for a non-Debian based Distro. For example, give Arch Linux a spin, you will learn a lot in the process! Since you want to be productive, try Clear Linux. They say it has the best performance of all binary distributions. Or, if you really want to dive into what Linux really is, you can go for Gentoo, Slack or even LFS - they are hardcore, but you will know how to turn every knob of your system in order to customize it your way.

I'm not a gamer. I've used a bunch of versions of different distros of Linux (been fiddlin' with Linux since 1995) and every desktop version of Windows except 3.0, ME, Vista, and 8. I currently use Mint 17.3 for my dev box(es). If I want Windows, I run 7 in a VirtualBox VM on my Mint box or swipe my sweetie's Win10 box. I haven't tried Win10 in a VM - don't have a license. The box running Win7 on Mint has an Intel i5-3210M (2 cores, 4 threads, 2.5-3.1GHz) and 8GB of RAM...by no means a monster. I give half the physical resources to the Win7 VM when running it, and it feels fine.

I'll never again run Windoze for my desktop. I'll never waste money, buying a new box, when a few years later I can get the same hardware for a fraction of the price. I paid about a seventh of the original price for my fully tricked out Dell Latitude E6430 - USED, about six years old. I don't need bleeding edge performance, since I don't code major systems in compiled languages, play video intensive games (or anything with performance-killing DRM), or mine bitcoin. I'm sure I could double the specs of my current dev-box for half-again to twice the price on EBay, but I simply don't need that much box...you might, if you choose to game on Win10 in a VM.

tl;dr: Stick with Mint. Run Windoze in a VM or keep multiple boxes (I currently have eight).

P.S. Since you're using Mint, you're already using Debian. The Mint team stacks a bunch of non-FOSS on top of Ubuntu after the Ubuntu team stacks stuff on top of Debian. Migrating from Mint to pure Debian simply loses you a whole lot of software and configuration options.

If you depend too much on Windows because of games, you can pick the Windows 10 which offers WSL (Window Subsystem for Linux), without needing to make dual boot. Check: docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install-win10

I'd just pick the most popular one, which is likely to have the most software, drivers, polish, online answers... So, Ubuntu. (Well, after Android, technically, but that's not really applicable).

I had dual boot for a while, but I just ended up using only one of them. I think that's a common problem with dual boots. (O.t.o.h., if you use Windows for games and Linux for coding, you can keep work and spare time separated).