1, Find out whether she needs any specific piece of software that is hard to replace. 2, Regarding distro, you should install her what you use, so it is easier for you to help. Ubuntu is well hated for a reason though (Canonical doing big tech things). I'd recommend either Linux Mint or Debian (if you are not a beginner in Linux and comfortable in the termunal) for both of you, but I'd wait until she passes her exams and may consider setting up a dual-boot on a spare SSD first, so she is able to try Linux and go back to Windows when needed. 3, Desktop environment: GNOME is considered best for ones coming from Apple and KDE from Windows. Both are resource hungry in my opinion, so I use MATE, which looks like GNOME 2 out of the box and uses a bit more resources than Xfce, well configurable though. Note that Ubuntu MATE is its flagship edition, many options are there out of the box (like MATE tweak).
Linux
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
Rules
- Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
- No misinformation
- No NSFW content
- No hate speech, bigotry, etc
Related Communities
Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0
My suggestion is to install Ubuntu with whatever desktop environment works for her. Since you're using Ubuntu too, and you're essentially going to be her tech support, it'll just be easier all around to stay on the same distro at least for now.
More importantly, how Windows-centric is she? Some people may prefer Gnome since using it is just a bit less complicated to use without needing to set a bunch of different settings. But if she's expecting the Windows style start menus and such then maybe she'll prefer KDE. Or there's always installing Linux Mint's Cinnamon on Ubuntu, Cinnamon would be easier than KDE for a ex-Windows user I suspect (https://ubuntucinnamon.org/ also exists apparently).
Anything KDE. My mom and stepfather are using Kubuntu and it’s working out great.
Either Mint or Ubuntu. Both are gui and user friendly compared to Arch or Fedora imo
Mint uses a outdated Desktop, Cinnemon, so wouldn't recommend Mint. A think you should choose a immutable distro like Fedora Silverblue och some of the Blufine disto.