1.) I want a very easy out of the box experience -- this is my primary work PC, and would prefer as little hassle getting everything to work as possible. Linux Mint seems to fit that bill better than anything else.
2.) Again, as my primary PC, I do not want to be installing a new version of the OS every 6 months or less. The rolling update model of LMDE is extremely attractive for that reason.
HOWEVER, I really hope this won't be an issue, but I noticed on the blog post for the newly released LMDE 201303, it says (see bold):
The motherboard I bought for my PC, which is a Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD4H, uses a licensed AMI EFI BIOS according to the specifications.4. How does LMDE compare to the Ubuntu-based editions?
Pros:
You don’t need to ever re-install the system. New versions of software and updates are continuously brought to you.
It’s faster and more responsive than Ubuntu-based editions.
Cons:
LMDE requires a deeper knowledge and experience with Linux, dpkg and APT.
Debian is a less user-friendly/desktop-ready base than Ubuntu. Expect some rough edges.
No EFI, GPT or secureBoot support.
Is that going to be an issue for me if I try to install LMDE 201303? If so, is there any workaround for it? Please keep in mind my knowledge on how to use Linux, particularly command line stuff, is virtually nil. I really hope that LMDE can work on my PC.