Desktop: Debian + i3wm is where I landed and stayed...
If anything were to change in future it would be Debian, but I'd be taking my setup with me (few dot files), which is a nice capability to have.
This is easier if you are a developer (not an iOS developer ofc), because most work on the CLI is just so much easier on Linux. I tried The BSDs at first, various Linux distros, and ultimately settled on Debian after using Ubuntu for a while. This is an opinionated area, and no distro is perfect, but I settled on Debian due to it's ubiquity as a base for other distros and therefore familiarity and wealth of support and knowledge, but also because it's the less opinionated base you can add whatever you want to... I also like their focus on openness.
My recommendation to anyone who _likes_, (or liked) Apple desktop and UI: don't try to replace it or replicate it in Linux, you will be upset. Learn to love something else: control, and the permanence and stability it brings to your life. If you want a ready made full desktop environment they exist, KDE and GNOME, but in a way they are just another Apple, dictating and evolving how you do things with each update - It's probably easier when you first switch, but you may eventually find yourself moving towards something simpler and less shiny... less is more, they are just window decorations at the end of the day, most of it is bloat.
If you do any kind of media, video, audio, raster, vector work... I wont lie and pretend this is a comparable alternative, you will need probably need either WINE or Windows, unless you know exactly what you need and know of a well supported program for Linux, e.g blender is supposed to be a pretty good contender for the proprietary 3D packages these days. While I like Linux, I agree Inkscape and Gimp are trash compared to Photoshop... i don't even like adobe products but I've used both, and the former are an exercise in pain endurance - they are last resorts, don't expect them to replace.
Desktop: Debian + i3wm is where I landed and stayed...
If anything were to change in future it would be Debian, but I'd be taking my setup with me (few dot files), which is a nice capability to have.
This is easier if you are a developer (not an iOS developer ofc), because most work on the CLI is just so much easier on Linux. I tried The BSDs at first, various Linux distros, and ultimately settled on Debian after using Ubuntu for a while. This is an opinionated area, and no distro is perfect, but I settled on Debian due to it's ubiquity as a base for other distros and therefore familiarity and wealth of support and knowledge, but also because it's the less opinionated base you can add whatever you want to... I also like their focus on openness.
My recommendation to anyone who _likes_, (or liked) Apple desktop and UI: don't try to replace it or replicate it in Linux, you will be upset. Learn to love something else: control, and the permanence and stability it brings to your life. If you want a ready made full desktop environment they exist, KDE and GNOME, but in a way they are just another Apple, dictating and evolving how you do things with each update - It's probably easier when you first switch, but you may eventually find yourself moving towards something simpler and less shiny... less is more, they are just window decorations at the end of the day, most of it is bloat.
If you do any kind of media, video, audio, raster, vector work... I wont lie and pretend this is a comparable alternative, you will need probably need either WINE or Windows, unless you know exactly what you need and know of a well supported program for Linux, e.g blender is supposed to be a pretty good contender for the proprietary 3D packages these days. While I like Linux, I agree Inkscape and Gimp are trash compared to Photoshop... i don't even like adobe products but I've used both, and the former are an exercise in pain endurance - they are last resorts, don't expect them to replace.