Some Ubuntu Alternatives if you pease.

[Geek-9pm]

Some Ubuntu Alternatives if you please.

No,not for people that want to leave Ubuntu. This is about alternatives built on Ubuntu for stability and power. They just look different. This is by design. Try one you want a new look.

Linux Mint. It really is Ubuntu. But it sure looks like something else. But you already know that.It has been said Linux Mint is good for users who also use Windows in their spare time. 

LXLI Linux. This caught my eye. Very nice wallpaper options. And a task manager I have never seen before. However, it is a lightweight and has limited apps.

Peppermint. This is my new favorite flavor of Linux. Pun intended. Much sweeter than Linux Mint.   

Peppermint OS is another Linux distribution based on Ubuntu's Long Term Support release.
It is not in anyway anything to do with Linux Mint except for the obvious inclusion of the word mint in its name.

Source:
https://www.lifewire.com/top-ubuntu-alternatives-4135701

The above link also has reviews of Linux distros that are not Ubuntu based.  And you will find links to ones I just mentioned.

What are your new favorites?   

[BC_Programmer]

For reference, The "LMDE" Linux Mint option uses Debian as it's upstream, rather than Ubuntu. Ubuntu itself uses Debian as it's upstream.

[Geek-9pm]

Thank you for the correction.
I am testing it and it looks like Ubuntu during the install, but taht may be due to the common  Debian origin.
Here is a family tree:
https://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=family-tree

[Salmon Trout]

Geek, do you actually use these distros for anything, or just play with the wallpaper for a while?

[Geek-9pm]

Geek, do you actually use these distros for anything, or just play with the wallpaper for a while?

Yes.
For any visitors, see this reference:
https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000694.htm
It is a lot of fun to collect samples of the major versions. They all have some basic games. And the wallpapers can be used elsewhere.

[Vetal]

Some Ubuntu Alternatives if you please.

No,not for people that want to leave Ubuntu. This is about alternatives built on Ubuntu for stability and power. They just look different. This is by design. Try one you want a new look.

Linux Mint. It really is Ubuntu. But it sure looks like something else. But you already know that.It has been said Linux Mint is good for users who also use Windows in their spare time. 

LXLI Linux. This caught my eye. Very nice wallpaper options. And a task manager I have never seen before. However, it is a lightweight and has limited apps.

Peppermint. This is my new favorite flavor of Linux. Pun intended. Much sweeter than Linux Mint.   
Source:
https://www.lifewire.com/top-ubuntu-alternatives-4135701

The above link also has reviews of Linux distros that are not Ubuntu based.  And you will find links to ones I just mentioned.

What are your new favorites?   

I'm an XP Pro user, and have been for about five years, but always wanted to learn Linux, so about three years ago I started buying CDs from OSDisc.com to try out. Eventually had a collection of over twenty CDs, not a one usable, at least not for a newbie. Either the distro would not connect to the internet at all (or only with a lot of fussing by me), or it was a pain in the rump to use thereafter. Flash forward to a month ago. I got my latest CD called MX Linux 17.1, and expected the same uselessness as all those before, so I procrastinated even trying it til about ten days ago. Running it as LiveCD, it connected to the internet automatically, did all the setup for me, and while it did take over four minutes until it was ready to use, it was totally and completely ready to use. Well, I did have to get rid of the bland wallpaper, turn off the Conky, and turn on the firewall....no big deal. I have been running it everyday since with zero grief, and using it to teach myself Linux. When my tech guy comes by next month, I'll have him install it to my secondary HDD. Don't know what it's based on, and don't much care. Out of over 20 tries, it's the only one that worked out of the box, with no fussing and cussing by me, and at my age I appreciate a low stress environment. My advice is to give MX Linux 17.1 a test drive in LiveCD mode. If you need more convincing first, there are plenty of video reviews on YouTube.

[Geek-9pm]

Most of the recent distributions of Ubuntu and Linux Mint are very good.  I mean anything in the last three years. Linux Mint 17 works good for me. But the results can depend on your PC hardware.
It has been said that the Cinnamon is easy to change to make it look more like Windows, if that is to your pleasure.  Here aresome videos about making it look likeXP or other versions of Windows.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5eyPkbRf9Q
It is fun to experiment.   

By the way: Linux will boot from a USB hard drive. I have a distortion a 2.5 inch laptop hard rive that gets both power and data from a USB port. I boot it from inside my BIOS. On my machine hitting F10 brings up a menu that lets me select other devices. Right now you can buy a new laptop hard drive for about $15 with 320 GB. Most laptop drives outperform standard USB flash drives. 

[DaveLembke]

Not sure if you ever played with Fedora, but I have liked Fedora since Fedora Core 4 over 10 years ago as my alternative to Mint. I started with Slackware 20 years ago and then Red Hat 6 and then was introduced to Fedora Core which is now just called Fedora. Had that for versions 4 and 5 and then got on board with Ubuntu at version 6 and then a friend of mine suggested I try Mint so I tried Linux Mint Version 8 and loved that. Stuck it out with Mint mostly, however I still download and check out Fedora every once in a while to see what changes they made. Looks like they are on Fedora Version 28 now. Last version I played with was Version 21.  https://getfedora.org/

Downloading version 28 now to add to a USB stick and try out. 

[Geek-9pm]

Thanks for the Fedora link. I will put it on a USB drive and try it. 

EDIT: I am playing with the Fedora installer now. It is a different method.
From this link: https://getfedora.org/Upi can find many variations on the Fedora Linux system. Such as a Fedora for a mobile ARM system, or https://spins.fedoraproject.org/ for alternative versions of Fedora. They have some interesting desktops.