Just want to address your questions about usability and Windows refugees appeal.
W10 itself, plus the end of W7 will usher in a new population into linux, and you have a large population that have been foss for 30 years or more.
See fishyman65712 's post above. That's describes me perfectly as well as a lot of people.
Everything you asked is do-able and easy with an open mind.
Solus is incredible and the math is limitless with it--especially Budgie.
You might find this weird, but to boot this up every day is a pleasure, not a chore.
It's fine out of the box BUT there will be no more windows mentality, windows way of doing things, windows configuration, windows sensibility. That was my personal hurdle (grew up DOS then W98!) but I was going to do whatever it took to escape from Win. Open mind. Embrace the new. Cross over. That was the sell for me.
Recommend Solus To First-Time Linux Users?
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I currently have Kde Neon, SparkyLinux, Enso Os, Deepin, Manjaro installed. I bought a new HDD and SDD in the last month, so I have ample space. So, I have room to see what others are doing and see what I like about them. I installed (and replaced) 3 distros yesterday after a quick check out and decided nothing making them stand out. Hee, it's actually fun for me to do this.
However, until last week, I hadn't booted into Windows (10 in my case) in six weeks. Linux suffices, and I'm happy to say that. I can play any game I have (Windows only even) under Linux and it seems to work fine, and many have native ports using the Unity engine.
Given that six weeks of being absolutely Windows free, I only see one photo editing program that won't do for Linux which I use occasionally..that's it for me. I use GIMP occassionally for quick fixes, but there's still some things I can do better in Windows there (possibly that's a me problem).
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brent Same here, brent, I started out with the likes of CPM, DOS, and then Windows.
To lessen the unfamiliar when moving from Windows to Solus, it might be worth taking a bit of time to get used to some programs that run on both operating systems, by using them in Windows for a while, e.g. Firefox for browsing, and Libre Office for documents etc.
Then a bit later ideally, IMO, if you can, dual boot for a while. That will let you continue to get your work done. The point is, there is an unavoidable learning curve, but it's well worth the effort and saves a very great deal of time in the long run (my experience any way).
If you're an adventurer just jump straight in, it's different but all still about files and folders, etc! :-)
johano Then a bit later ideally, IMO, if you can, dual boot for a while. That will let you continue to get your work done. The point is, there is an unavoidable learning curve, but it's well worth the effort and saves a very great deal of time in the long run (my experience any way).
I could've reworked my whole post into this level of wonderful conciseness. Using them both together is baby steps. Having WIN as a security blanket is smart. Not enough talk about "the unavoidable learning curve" but it is truly liberating if the effort is put in. Yes, agreed, in the end, whether mac/pc/linux, it's still files/folders/software.
I agree with the idea that power users might be better to start off with a Buntu based distro, just to get their feet wet; but that users who just do a few things could be just fine with Solus. Here's own experience: started with a brief look-see with Ubuntu 13.10 as live CD; then tried mint and installed it. discovered Zorin and went with that for awhile. Then the floodgates opened and I tried a bunch of stuff, including Solus. The computer I use for Linux is getting old (Gateway desktop, AMD dual-core, 6GB ram), and some things would not work right on it, including Solus. But I really loved it and was just waiting for a newer version to try, in hopes it would be more stable on this system. and it has exceeded every expectation. So much so that I am seriously considering putting it on my wife's laptop. I want to transition her to Linux by next January. I first put Kubuntu, because it has that Windows 7 feel, and with a glass theme you have the aero look. To create a comfort level. however, it has not worked out for her. So I put Zorin 15 on, partly because the install kept all her files and settings like bookmarks. Less work for me post-install. My other current Linux is Linux Lite. I really all three, Solus, Zorin, Linux Lite and will be keeping all of them. I may put Solus on her laptop, that way she can try both Solus and Zorin and see which she prefers. I'll be doing all the admin so either would work fine.
I like that Solus is from scratch. It is not dependent on Ubuntu for updates, and so on. This gives the devs complete control and flexibility in keeping it stable while moving it ahead. And the rolling release solves all kinds of headaches for the user. I love Linux Lite, it is so stable on my system, but you have to do a fresh install every two years. Of course a lot of purists do this anyway, and it's good practice. bit with Solus that is not an issue you ever have to think about again.
Meanwhile, keep the comments coming, it's helping a lot as I try to figure out how to advise all the Windows 7 users who may be suddenly very interested in Linux!
Louhy The taskbar issue is a big deal if you work on more than one screen (travel time of the mouse or if the taskbar is blocked by a game, ect.), same for wallpapers. You can't use dual screen wallpapers with a resolution of 5120x1440 pixel for example or one wallpaper per screen. Programs or windows are sometimes confused on which screen they were closed the last time or ignore it completely.
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I would not recommend Solus to first-time Linux users. I don't have anything against Solus. It is my preferred distro and the one I like best. However, I had a terrible experience with a friend to whom I introduced Linux. I recommended Solus to him and he did not like it. He ended up hating Linux itself. With all the benefits of Solus, it does have some downsides. The lack of third party support from a lot of developers is a downside to new users. Another major one is that, if they had used Ubuntu or Linux mint, they can troubleshoot issues much more easily on their own. Most people coming from windows are used to just 'googling' their issues and Ubuntu has a very large community. So the chances of them solving their own problems are much more higher. Solus does not have that level of support yet. They would have to use the forum and I know people who would think that is a weird and unnecessary exercise. Solus is still quite new and I am not going to lie by saying that there are no issues and bugs with it. New users would be immediately put off. No disrespect intended for the Solus team, however. Solus is the best distro there is, in my opinion. However, I feel that Solus is better for those who have some experience with Linux. We need to go a little more distance before it can be recommended to first-time Linux users. I know we can make it! 
Yes, I would agree dialinsp that if I were setting up a development environment, I don't think Solus would be my first choice, especially not for a neophyte Linux user who is a developer. WHen I was a developer, I wanted a machine JUST like my server, and Solus is not built to be a server class distro, but a desktop.
For a more casual desktop user (internet, documents, email) it would be fine (imo).
I'm using Solus for about a week by now. I was (and still am) a windows user. Back in 2006 I used Ubuntu Dapper Drake as my main OS for some time, after that I used all the ubuntu's distros till mid 2009 I believe. Always with LXDE for best performance. I loved the linux experience, but I got into some difficulties since I was learning chinese and I couldn't install QQ Messenger and some tools language related. Gaming was also one of the reasons I went back to Windows.
By that time I was using Windows 7 and I just got used to it, it just worked fine for me. So since then I've been using Windows and I was actually pretty happy about it.
About one or two months ago I installed Ubuntu as a second OS just to see how were things going after all this years, I didn't use too much because I hate the Gnome 3 interface, I'm used to the Windows interface and the Gnome 3 interface for me looks like Windows 8 (I hate windows 8). So I was looking for alternatives and I also wanted to try different distros (I tried archlinux before and I like the theory behing rolling releases), and different desktop enviornments, so I downloaded Manjaro Budgie to give it a try. I'm not gonna lie, although I liked it, it didn't seem very polished, I experienced some graphical glitches so I was researching a bit about it and found out about Solus. I realized soon after that many of my issues on linux are solved already, gaming on linux were never so easy (thanks steam), chinese support is alright, and most of the apps I use have now their own native linux apps.
For me, Solus feels like the right distro to start on Linux desktop for a few reasons:
- Easy Installation;
- Stable rolling release;
- Easy to use Software Manager without junk or obsolete packages;
I would recommend a Windows user give it a try, also now that we have snaps and flatpaks... You can actually install apps like you do on Windows. You can play many games using steam beta and proton. Most things I was doing on windows I can now do them on Linux pretty much the same way.
TLDR; Yes, I would recommed Solus to a 1st time Linux user.
HolySoap If that's how you feel/work there's nothing I can say to fix that. But personally I never cared for doing that anyway, I'm fine with a single taskbar (on the plus side you get a bit more screen real estate to work with), and the other things seem pretty minor to me. Still I won't mind if those things get upgraded eventually.
I'm really liking the new super ultrawide monitors we finally have now (49" with over 5,000 pixels now!) so my multi-monitor days might be coming to an end anyway. Of course they pose a whole other set of usability "issues", don't they? 
HolySoap Yeah, fullscreen is a challenge with ultrawides in general really. I've mostly adapted to stay windowed.
Intelligent hiding is cool but I think since some apps have semi transparent "drop shadow" borders, and since those borders are technically part of the application window, it confuses intelligent hiding unless you leave an awkward 5 pixel gap between bottom of the window and the taskbar. At least I think that's what happening (GitKraken is one of the offending applications here.)
Of course we're well into "first world problems" now... 
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In accordance with many, I think Ubuntu has a large user base and this means It's easier and faster to solve all the problems that may occur to a newbie without having to subscribe any community forum. On the other side, Solus forum is friendly and responsive, so this is a relative issue.
The repository isn't as big as well, and here something could be done; but, again, all the applications (I've tried) work well. Ie: Abiword has all the export modules, while in elementary Os it can save files in the native format only... DisplayCAL puts the measurement window perfectly in the screen centre while in Fedora 29 it appeared randomly, thus unusable, since in the screen corners gamma and even colours are different. In elementary, the window is movable but it drags around part of the wallpaper beneath it.
The integration of programs in Solus is also very good, clearly verified, and it doesn't happen, like sometimes on community maintained repos, to find programs with black icons on a black background like in Manjaro.
On the contrary what I like in the Manjaro repository is that's up to date: applications version is always the last one and you can download Scribus 1.5.4 instead of the 1.4.6, but also the latest Xsane. Even if it's not been developed since 5 years ago, it's still the only quasi-professional scanning app available for Linux. You can do nothing with Simple Scan, I'm sorry.
Solus is, indeed, stable, compact, consistent, reliable, it does not betray you, and you can quietly use bleachbit in SU mode with no risk to collect 1.000+ errors after the next system update as in Manjaro. And Solus, Solus Budgie is the best, has a familiar desktop where to (may be temporarily) past files picked up here and there, which is very handy, unlike the Apple/Android/Gnome3 Launchpad that doesn't have any.
At the end of the day, after having tried out at least 12 different major distros, I feel comfortable to suggest Solus to any newbie.
Yes, without question I would recommend Solus to first time users. Why? My journey to Linux was one of necessity, not of disillusionment with Windows. I bought a second hand pc from a co-worker for $60 in 2006, a Dell Dimension Desktop 2350, little did i know the copy of XP on it was infected with 2 trojans and a backdoor. After receiving a system recovery disk from Dell, I wiped the HDD and reinstalled a clean copy, and at least one time a week, counterfeited updates would lock me out of the OS by asking for username and password at startup, and after several long hold times on the phone with CSR's at Microsoft, i would just wipe and reinstall. Hard introduction to the computing world I had, and it got worse over time. If I had to start all over again, I'd take Solus in a heartbeat, one huge security feature, the Dev team owns and controls the update infrastructure, which is light years beyond Linux Mint. Their expertise and dedication to a job done right is without compare from what I've seen in the computing world. The Solus Plasma GUI is easy to navigate, user-friendly, and not heavy on the hardware. The code is woven like a Tapestry artfully done to maximize efficiency and functionality, and while not without bugs, the issues are addressed in a Professional manner on the Forums, by thoroughly knowledgeable Individuals. The copy/paste of commands into the Konsole window are quite easy for first time users, and can correct most any issue they would have. The ability to change background pictures on any of my 3 monitors with just a click is a bonus, and much easier than Windows, where menus are deliberately changed to make finding something harder with each new version release. While Coding is not my strong point, Philosophy may be, Analogously, each new version of windows, is like a house with the inside renovated and remodeled, the bathroom is where the kitchen used to be and so on, and a new upward floor added. Linux is lean, and a great filing system, with Solus in the lead as strong as it is artfully done.
I have no problem with recommending Solus to first time Linux users, although it would most likely depend on their needs. For those with very basic needs from a computer, Solus comes with virtually everything they need. with little need to add more. The only ones I wouldn't recommend it to are those who have more advanced needs that can't be met sufficiently by what's available in the repos.
OmegaSupreme -Most people remark that they're surprised to find the repos actually do have everything they need (I'm sure there are exceptions), I haven't really found anything I need that isn't there (but then my current needs are pretty basic I guess).
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Absolutely, it's the only Linux distribution I've tried that actually feels like it is attempting to make Linux truly accessible to newcomers, user friendly and Budgie out of the box has an amazing user interface that feels like something that was made by a team of paid UX designers rather than something you'd typically find brewing around the typical Desktop Environments.
Ubuntu on the other hand still feels kinda cobbled together and there's a lot of inconsistency, Solus doesn't have that to me nearly as much, it just flows a lot better in my eyes.
I can't thank the developers enough. 
I first heard of Solus in sometime 2016-2017 I believe? It's been my go-to distribution for a home environment since, and I would absolutely recommend it for new Linux users!
dbarron Not at all the case with me, but I wouldn't expect perfection given that I do a lot of dev & experimenting (although a few times it was just about version differences). The Solus team does seem to have a pretty strict software repo adoption policy though (correct me if wrong?), so this may never change.
I'm planning to provide a Solus Budgie install as the default OS for the next PC I build for the parents, and one potential issue I see is the lack of auto updates. I'm not sure I can get them to check for these even in the Software Center regularly, so it might be 1-2 updates a year if that doesn't happen... 
Still better security than Windoze I guess, but it does make me wish there was an "auto-update" option (preferably configurable at install time so you don't forget).
However, shouldn't be an issue for a new-to-Linux user willing/wanting to try Solus first if they're going to the trouble to install themselves. And then again, do other distros like Mint even have an automatic update option? Hmm... maybe it's not an issue period?
Louhy You get a notification of updates pending. It doesn't FORCE you though.
Also if you wanted to force them, then you could set up the systemd equivalent of a cron job (haven't got that down pat myself, but you can search the howtos for it) and set it to run at whatever interval you find desirable.