It’s hard to say what really nice means. I have been using Ubuntu for more than a decade for all my home laptops. But I also researched models are very compatible with Linux. Also besides steam, some basic libreoffice spreadsheets and dev tools we mostly use browser and web based things. So our coverage of all the possible Desktop apps and configurations is minimal.

So I never felt like paying a “linux tax”. Quite the opposite, when I dual boot into Windows 10 it irritates me to no end. Random web based link and ads in the start menu. Updates are kind of a pain - they halt both the shutdown and the startup process. I don’t like the flat UI look in general.

As far as overall consistency and polish nothing beats MacOS but well Macs cost more. So if you look for design and UI polish and have the money that’s probably a better choice.