Looking for distro recommendations

Between wanting to do more with local LLMs, wsl annoyances, and the direction tech companies have been going lately, I think it's time I start exploring a full Linux migration

I'm a software dev, I'm comfortable in the command line, and I used to write the node configuration piece of something similar to chef (flavor/version agnostic setup of cloud environments)

So for me, Linux has always been a "modify the script and rebuild fresh" kind of deal... Even my dev VMs involved a lot of scripts and snapshots. I don't enjoy configuration and I really hate debugging it, but I can muddle through when I have to

Web searches have pushed me towards Ubuntu for LLM work, but I've never been a big fan of the window Managers. I like little flourishes like animation and lots of options I can set graphically, I use multiple desktop multiple monitors

I've tried the one it comes standard with, gnome, and kde (although it's been about 5 years since I've last given them a real shot).

I'm mostly looking for the most reasonable footprint that is "good enough", something that feels polished to at least the Windows XP level - subtle animations instead of instant popups, rounded borders, maybe a bit of transparency here and there.

I'm looking at Ubuntu w/

• kde w/ plasma (I understand it's very configurable, I don't love the look and it seems to be a bigger footprint

• budgie (looks nice, never heard of it before today)

• kylin (looks very Windows 10 which is nice, a bit skeptical about the Chinese focus)

• mate (I like the look, but it seems a bit dubiously centralized)

• unity (looks like the standard Ubuntu taken to it's natural conclusion)

• rhino Linux (something new which makes me skeptical, but pretty and seems more like existing tools packaged together which makes me think the issues might not impact actual workflow)

• anything the community is big on for this, personally I'd pick opensuze, but I need to maximize compatibility with bleeding edge LLM projects

My hardware and hard requirements are:

• nvidia 1060ti
• ryzen 5500u
• 16g ram
• 4 drives nearly full, because it's a computer of Theseus running the same (upgraded) vista license that came with the case like 15 years ago
• multi desktop, multi monitor
• can handle a lot of browser Windows/tabs
• ideally the setup is just a package mana ger install script with all my dependencies
• gaming support would be nice, but I'll be dual booting for VR anyways

I've been out of the game for a while, I'd love to hear what the feeling is in the community these days

(Side note, is pine as cool a company as it seems?)