For what you call 'MacOS like search' I'd recommand Recoll, working on any OS (and perfectly on my Debian install, for years on) : really can find ANY text string inside any document, from almost any app (e. g. Joplin, that I'd bet nobody heard of here), also including e. g. words within attachments within zipped backup email databases, pictures located on unpermanent backup volumes etc.
Regularly updated, that the one thing that definitely had me 'finally forgetting' MacOSX.
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I didn't know how to exactly tell people how the search is but if I can also search inside files, it's even better! I'll try it for sure
Sorry to be late to the party, posted a comment to a comment much earlier; Krunner on Debian or practically anywhere else is Recoll
I'm quite happy with Fedora. It has kde support, many apps (especially with rpmfusion), and is quite stable because it is still a 6 month ish major release schedule. Wobbly windows, kde connect, and krunnuer will definitely work. Good customization is subjective, and honestly I consider c/unixporn to be weird but cool wizardry, but I'm happy with it. One thing to consider is if you have a newer amd CPU with an iGPU being used it will get slow and crash every now and then (few months). It's a bug in the linux kernel starting around 6.10.
Good customization is subjective
Yes, but I mean you can customize a lot in settings, themes, icons, etc
I have a 5800x and a 6950 so it should be okay
Yeah, that's a kde thing, so I doubt it would be very different than neon.
If it doesn't crash for no reason I'm happy with that
Nothing crashes for no reason. Until you identify the reason, you’re employing stochastic problem solving.
the Bazzite KDE flavor sounds like what you need
OpenSuSE with default filesystem configuration
or kubuntu
Atomic distros were created to solve exactly that problem. I like Bazzite because it also has seamless background updates (among other reasons).
I'm looking for good apps support so Debian?
Any Debian fork will run .deb packages. But plain Debian is just very vanilla and will be missing a lot of stuff you'll probably want.
Wobbly windows (yes useless but cool lol) Good customization KDE connect support (a must) Krunner or equivalent (MacOS like search)
These are all going to be features of the DE, and you can install any DE on any distro (AFAIK).
I tried Bazzite as my first try with Linux for a while and liked it; it was super easy. I didn't like that the immutability went so far as to lock me out of some parts of the OS that I thought should be open, like lock screen customization.
Now I am on Garuda Arch and it has been really easy too.
I meant Debian based OS
I see. Deb is definitely the most package-friendly.
GNOME combines Mac's "stage manager" and "spotlight" into a single function activated by the Super key (windows key/command). It's really excellent and probably my favorite thing about GNOME.
Stage manager?
Yes, I prefer deb because its easier for me to install stuff
Stage Manager is the one where it zooms out to show all of your open windows and switch between them.
fedora has a KDE spin, and others have mentioned stuff like Bazzite which is similar. I'm personally planning to switch eventually.
Try Aurora DX (it means the developer edition). It's KDE but with a Fedora base and immutability. It means that even if an update breaks something (unlikely but still) you will always have a working system available to fall back to. It does mean that development is meant to be done via containers, but I find this solution to be way cleaner and easier to work with than traditional package conflicts madness. Give it a go.
It also means updates are just full system images, so no way for a package manager or differential update to mess anything up. It also means no way of downloading tiny differential updates (if I understand everything correctly).
If you don't need DX or would like to switch off of KDE, there are other fedora atomic desktop based distributions available.
Oh right, a distribution is just an image, so switching distributions is as simple as switching the base OS image and rebooting.
Fedora KDE spin might be suitable for you.
Nixos, never have that break happen again
why not arch? it's a fun distro to try if you haven't yet
Because I'm used to Debian and the features listed? Krunner, Wobbly windows (useless but heh), full KDE connect support
Krunner, wobbly windows and KDE connect are features of KDE Plasma, not Debian. You can install KDE plasma on arch and use all of the things you listed. Arch also has good app support through the AUR. Plus the wiki is called the Linux bible for a reason
Check out PikaOS
Fedora KDE or Linux Mint.
Yum. Not used to it but it's not bad
Fedora Kinoite is KDE but also atomic, so you can easily roll back from bad upgrades in future.
Everyone is recommending KDE, but forgive me if I'm missing something, I don't see it needing to be KDE support as a requirement on your list?
Any mainstream GNOME distro, eg Fedora, will have all the features you need through extensions (compiz window effect, gconnect for KDE Konnect, GNOME has the search you want by default and supports lots of customisation via shell themes, GTK themes, icon packs and extensions.
Edit: )
Why cripple Gnome to something Knomeish when OP is already familiar with KDE and there are gazzillions of KDE distros?
Gnome is ugly IMO and the extensions and custom themes to make it pretty break at each and every update. I just don't bother with it anymore. KDE was customized to my liking once and it stays that way through updates without any failure.
If you like KDE your night find endeavouros with KDE pretty good. It is an arch derivative so it is rolling release, if that is acceptable then I would say give it a try.
I (after a lot of prior distro hopping) went from neon to tuxedo OS and have had very few issues, and only one that was major (was my own fault).
it sounds like you're looking for kubuntu since it checks off every one of those bullet points.