Normally, when embarking on a new version of any distro , I do a fresh
installation following downloading the iso and burning a CD/DVD, all this
after saving the /home directory to an device external to the relevant
machine. As per the advice given universally via any NG
Perhaps I have been lucky , but learned early that nvidia graphics cards
are OK and I prefer Intel processor/chipsets .
The beauty of distros enabling live mode is that one can check suitability
prior to installation.
To me the distro itself is not all that important provided it is based on
Debian with its excellent installation routines ie synaptic or equivalent
and CLI's apt-get (especially the latter)
With a Gnome desktop one can download/use KDE apps and vice versa.