I started using Ubuntu back in Hardy Heron days (8.04). I remember attending an Ubuntu user's group meeting in Denver back then and the System76 guys were there. I was impressed by their knowledge and willingness to help others.

I strayed to Mint for the last 10 years or so and only recently gave Pop_OS a try. I was delighted to see the "Welcome to Colorado" wallpaper on there right after installation. Now Pop_OS is the only distro I use. Hats off to System76 for their contribution.

I recently inherited an HP All-In-One desktop that was extremely sluggish with Windows. I have yet to find anything seriously wrong with Pop_OS and feel it really strikes a good balance. Yes the Pop!_Shop is definitely the weak point. It worked great for many applications, but when it didn't I was able to install fairly painless using other options (apt-get...).