Ubuntu is still the most popular distribution, but I have also heard good things about Linux Mint (based on Ubuntu). I haven’t used them myself for longer periods of time, but given that your last experience from Linux is from 2007 to 2012, there’s a good chance that many of the issues that you have had back then won’t trouble you today.
For example, I haven’t had to create a Xorg.conf in years (it doesn’t exist in my filesystem). Pulseaudio works out of the box unless you’re trying to do something unusual, like streaming audio over your network. I never had any driver issues with “standard hardware” like SATA SSDs. Of course, peripheral devices like multi-function printers are a different story entirely, you still can’t expect them to “just work” if you don’t do your research before buying them.
nroi
OvermindDL1
I’ve not tried it yet as I’m not a fan of docks, but Latte Dock for KDE I’ve been told is very mac-like and way crazy configurable (as is most things in KDE), so can set it up to do pretty much what you want.
OvermindDL1
Yeah linux doesn’t really need any setup anymore. My wife setup her linux desktop system (and proceeded to customize it in colorful ways) after being a windows user for her life, and the only issue her system has had is some piece of hardware is a bit unstable (same issue with windows, hence trying linux, though she likes linux a lot more, even considering that she’s a gamer, much more so than I).
victorolinasc
I am a happy Linux user and have been for a while now. There are so many reasons for this and I’ll try to put as many as I can in as little text as I can.
I have studied Philosophy in college, so I have a kind of “natural affinity” with GNU/Linux for the things it tries to stand for. This plays a huge part of my satisfaction on investing time into Linux (as a user). It is hard to say a lot more about this subject without mentioning other OSes as we live in a world dominated by patents of, in my humble opinion, things that couldn’t have a patent. If 1 + 1 can not have a patent, then, again, IMHO, neither should software. Also, I believe that, at least, public administration should only use public code. If nobody agrees, that’s fine too. I am no “active activist” but that is important to my “happiness” using Linux.
On the other hand, I am very happy with the recent evolution of Linux. A LOT of things progressed quickly and I think it is picking up steam as a desktop OS. Mainly graphics but also audio, input, fonts and so on. I love to read KDE’s weekly usability and productivity blog posts. It makes me value even more the work people are investing into a free and open platform and it is really nice to see the heights they are reaching! As was mentioned, I don’t think Linux needs any customization for a new user. It is just that customizing it is so nice that it feels like it we are loosing opportunity if we don’t… Also, I’ve converted more than 50% of my family (parents, wife, nephews included) to use Linux. I am the “technical support” anyway and when I stopped using other OSes they lost their “free technical support”… Most people only need a browser and an office suite 
As a developer, the platform has always made sense to me, even before I could understand it fluently. I mean, it is the “tinkerer’s” platform. Learning to use the shell, discussing about file systems, installing the OS with plenty of options many times and understanding the network stack made me a better programmer (I believe).
One thing I will disagree with previous answers is that Linux isn’t simple. I really think it is simple. Sometimes simpler than other OSes (but not always). What I agree, though, is that simple does not necessarily mean “easy”. Think about LISP: it has the simplest syntax any language might dream to have (only parentheses mean anything in LISP), though it is not easy to understand its semantics at first contact (even for seasoned programmers). This feels to me like an OO programmer approaching FP and saying it is “too complex”. It is different for sure, but not necessarily more complex. I think Linux is discussed a lot and has more “principles” and “standards” than other OSes and that is why it is simpler to understand. Currently, other OSes feel alien to me and I can’t be productive on them anymore. I guess this is natural once you don’t have to switch OSes on a daily basis (it’s been a decade since I last used another OS on my machines).
People should not trust my opinions though! I am an Emacs user too, so… I like to invest my time into tools that are open (to say the least). Like Erlang and Elixir
pmangalakader
Hi all,
Before starting my career in Software Industry, I was afraid of the word ‘linux’ to be frank because I was unaware of what is linux?
Later, when I started working as a developer, I was looking for alternatives for everything as I was hailing from heavy windows background. After quite a struggle, I got strong hold on the positives of the unix based systems and I started learning more and more about linux internal tools and productivity related applications, I started loving it.
One of the major advantages of linux or unix is it’s customisability, you use only what you need… there is even 50 mb linux, avoiding all bloated packages. When we go for deployment, we don’t want unnecessary tools eating away RAM and CPU, so I would always recommend a linux based server or container-based solutions using unix or linux.
Linux is open-source and one of the best companion a developer can get!
Thanks.
AndyL
Xubuntu / XFCE is the world’s best desktop environment. Mega-scriptable, gives you everything you need (browser, terminal, vim), nothing that is bad for you (anything else). Best thing about XFCE: it hardly ever changes. Why? Because it’s perfect as is. Nothing else can ever measure up.
pmangalakader
@kokolegorille I tried lynx once and couldn’t adapt to it unfortunately, but it’s a good alternative in case of absence of any GUI, which is prevalent in Servers mostly.
kokolegorille
You might have encountered lynx, but did You try once to edit your files with ed and edline? (I am an old gorilla )
pmangalakader
@kokolegorille Absolutely, I have encountered and used only basic browsing options, haven’t gone deep with it. When I get time I’ll definitely force myself into adpating to it. Thanks for suggesting that!