I made the switch from dual-booting in 2007 to avoid Windows Vista (I think it was). Ubuntu was great. Linux Mint was and is better, but early on it couldn't handle my graphics card. I've been using Mint since then. The Mate desktop environment appeals to me because it's simple and understandable. I really thought that KDE 3.5 was perfect, but when KDE 4 came along, I found that I couldn't understand it. I like simple and reliable above all else.

Now I'm considering an alternative to Linux Mint since the Debian ecosystem sees a significant refresh only once every two years, but I would suggest Linux Mint as a great starting point. You might also look at Zorin, which is designed to appeal to Windows and Apple refugees. MX Linux has high ratings on DistroWatch. Fedora updates twice a year, which is appealing, though I had problems back in the 1990s with Red Hat 2 and Red Hat 4 and dependency hell, and have an irrational emotional reluctance to try Fedora, though I need to.

These days Ubuntu has seen some friction, particularly with its use of Snaps for installing/updating software out of the control of the user. Back in the early 2000s Ubuntu was light, clean, and honest. And a little plain, compared to Linux Mint. These days I myself would not use Ubuntu. But it's your life, so you need to do your own research and make your own decisions. Don't forget about trial runs of Linux from a thumb drive. Genius.