edit: Fedora it is then!
He will be running the AMD 9800 X3D w/ RX 9070 XT, B850 motherboard.
I am deciding between either Fedora (probably KDE) and Bazzite (also KDE), but I’m not sure whether an atomic distro would be better/worse for a newbie.
As far as I understand, atomic distros can be easily rolled back after an update, but you are unable to use apt/dnf/etx, you need to use Flatpak, I think. Would that be limiting for the average user? Also, does Bazzite have better driver support for newer AMD hardware compared to Fedora?
I vote Fedora as well, I love it having come from windows myself about a year ago. Not a big gamer anymore, but can confirm Minecraft runs well on Fedora KDE Plasma and looks similar to windows. I am a homelabber by hobby and an electrical engineer by trade. I do a bit of light CS and networking/SCADA for in my job. Understanding Unix-based systems is helpful for both realms. If your friend is a CS student and doesn’t have a PC already as a daily driver, this is THE time to get into Linux in my opinion since they are a blank canvas. I’m of the opinion knowing Unix-based systems, like Linux is only going to help you later in your career so might as well learn it now. Haha