Not OP, but if I was installing Linux for the first time I'd either go with pop_os (not sure if it's as good anymore as last time I checked it, a couples years ago) or kubuntu, because KDE is a bit more familiar to windows users.
Pop and Linux Mint are both solid options for newcomers. Personally, I think LM looks better out of the box but Pop is a little easier to grok coming from Windows. Not much of a difference either way though.
Totally agree for non-technical users. For anyone technical, and willing to suffer a little bit, go with Arch. The docs are incredible, and you end up with a much better understanding of how everything hangs together.
