I have now added UbuntuDDE, Nitrux and Solus to my repertoire of “tried that.” UbuntuDDE would not run at all adequately from a USB stick. It was so horrible that I didn’t want to install it at all. I realize it would perform differently had I done so, but it was so bad I just couldn’t make myself do it.
Nitrux was only a little better. I didn’t like it at all and it wouldn’t execute some pretty basic commands. Really fought it as well (again, from the USB stick).
I tried Solus in the Budgie flavor (I tend to like GNOME) and I am on it right now. It replaces Elementary OS and so far, so good. I quite like it thus far. So, if you’re keeping count, Pop! OS is my primary daily driver on my Dell 2-in-1 Gen 8 i3. Zorin is going strong on my Dell Gen 8 i7 and Solus-Budgie is running on my Gen 4 i3 (and I just realized this one has actually been upgraded to 12 GB of RAM). I have no qualms in recommending all 3 for beginners, though Solus was a bit aggravating to get running properly… I lost my displays and had to install a controller and at one point, my comp froze during a Chrome install and entered a loop that required me to re-install the entire OS. But it seems pretty good right now.
I know Ubuntu is highly recommended for beginners, but I just didn’t love it. I may give it another go when something breaks on one of the other distros, but for now, I am halting experiments and sticking with Pop, Solus and Zorin.