Linux

Your issue seems to be outdated packages, so I wouldn't recommend distro hopping(especially to something arch based) for just that reason. Look into workarounds for those packages in mint itself. In the worst case scenario there's also the option of compiling from source.

I wouldn't recommend distro hopping to arch without some high level understanding of the different moving parts of the OS. EndeavourOS has given me almost no issues but when things break(like grub a while back) you have to be OK with touching parts of the system that just work and are taken for granted on distros like mint. It's why I don't consider anything arch based friendly to a "noob user".

If you're a "noob user" who wants to learn more you can try endeavourOS, that's kind of the spirit of it.

Been using it the last 2 years and I find it great. Before that it was Mint about 5 years and PopOS about 2. Don't think I will ever go back to a Debian based distro

I had already used other linux distros for a while but never arch (or arch based systems), so I decided to give EndeavourOS a try and I am really liking it, it's pretty solid for me. I am currently using it with Gnome in my personal laptop and I really just needed to configure gnome (my extensions and such), nothing about endeavour especifically.

That being said, EndeavourOS does not ship with a graphical package management tool by default so it's up to you to choose one or just use the command line to manage your packages (if you're new to Linux it can sound complicated at first but it's quite simple when you get used to it).

There are other solid and "noob-friendly" rolling-release distros like Fedora and OpenSUSE Tumbleweed, but if you want arch, EndeavourOS is an excellent choice.

One thing I don't know about any Arch based distributions is how about configurations. On Arch, the default configurations for some packages, whether do not work out of the box, or are not the safest configs. Whether while installing new SW, or while updating, there's a good level of involvement particularly with configurations.

Apart from installation, which in rolling release distributions it might be about a one time thing per device, configuration might become a burden for new users.

I believe Manjaro (I've never used it) comes with some sort of sane configs that work out of the box for most users, unless when looking for particular tweaks, or so I read in the past. But Manjaro has fallen really down on people's preferences. If EndeavourOS uses Arch repos, I'm wondering if there's any difference, once installed, between maintaining Arch and maintaining EndeavourOS. Just by how it sounds, it's the same thing, a lot of wikies readings (particularly when not familiar with the SW and how to make it work, there's SW that works without particular configs, but there are some that don't really work nicely out of the box on Arch), having to config lots of things to install stuff and make it work, and then be careful on upgrades about configs changes. It doesn't look like EndeavourOS makes this any simpler, and just having some extra stuff, but not having their own repos, where they package SW with curated configs, then I see no purpose other than to make the Arch install easier, which now a days have alternative ways to do so.

Can some one please clarify on configs, and maintenance in general, for EndeavourOS? Is there an Arch based distribution really making this easier on new gnu+linux users, who are are really not used to deal with any of that? TBH, depending on Arch packages repositories sounds hard to achieve any of that...

I went to EndeavourOS with i3WM (from dual boot Windows/ Ubuntu) and have been loving the experience. It's really helped push my boundaries with learning Linux.

That was the first distro switching from Mac. Obviously. Used for 5 days only. Everything is too simple to make it convinient and easy to use. Top taskbar is absolutly useless, yet takes some vert space. Replacing most default apps or try Mint? Mint was ok (BTW).

I don't really understand the need for it. I'd rather just use Arch.