I've been using Linux for 11 years already. I've tried several Linux distribution in both desktop and server use cases. I wouldn't call myself a distrohopper but I've collected some observations about some popular Linux distributions.

Ubuntu

It was my first Linux distribution. I had both Windows and Ubuntu installed on my desktop in dual boot. I started with Ubuntu 9.10 and learned some basic things such as software repositories, package managers, terminal and others.

Elementary

I'm not a hardcore "terminal-only" guy. I care about look and feel of an operating system. So when I saw screenshots of Elementary OS I wanted to give it a chance and try to work with it more closely. It has a beautiful design and it looks like Elementary developers are inspired by Mac OS. Unfortunately it was quite unstable and updates were irregular.

OpenSUSE

I chose OpenSUSE because I wanted to switch from Ubuntu's Unity to KDE. I used both editions Leap and Tumbleweed. This distribution provides a rock solid base with some cool features such as YAST, snapshots and one of the best installers. In my opinion it's a bit bloated but despite on that openSUSE Tumbleweed is my main Linux distro on my home desktop machines for more than 5 years.

RHEL

I've never used neither CentOS or RHEL as a desktop system but in my work at Red Hat RHEL is a main operating system in the company's infrastructure (who would have thought 🙂). If you need support and enterprise software I believe it's the only choice.

KDE Neon

Since I tried first time KDE it's the only DE I use on my desktop machines. Neon is an official distro from KDE developers based on Ubuntu LTS with the latest stable KDE packages. Updates arrive very often but I haven't faced any major issues. When I got a new laptop at work I installed Neon on it and I've been using it for 3 years already.

So I have actually two favorite Linux distributions: KDE Neon and OpenSUSE Tumbleweed. Both of them have the latest KDE. For work I need more stable base so I use Neon. At home I want to have fully rolling release and OpenSUSE Tumbleweed is still a good choice.