Which Linux distro is best for gaming, dual booting, and long-term stability on an Intel laptop?

Ubuntu is already a stable choice, so switching distributions may not eliminate the stuttering. Check your graphics stack, power settings, game-specific Proton versions, and whether the games are running through Wayland or X11 before replacing the whole system. You could also test another distro from a live USB or on a spare partition first.

Mint or Zorin OS may be a better choice if stability and ease of use matter more than having a gaming-specific setup. Both are approachable for beginners, work well for general desktop use, and have interfaces that should feel reasonably familiar to Windows users. Gaming performance may not be dramatically different from Ubuntu, though, since the underlying drivers and Proton setup are often more important than the distribution itself.

A gaming-focused option such as Bazzite or PikaOS could be worth testing. They tend to include gaming-related tools and sensible defaults, but I’d first confirm that your specific Intel Arc graphics are well supported by the kernel and Mesa versions they ship.

It may also be worth asking whether maintaining two operating systems is actually helping with your workflow. List the Windows-only applications you need and check whether they have Linux alternatives. If Windows is mainly there for occasional repairs or for your parents, keeping it as a separate partition while using a familiar-looking Linux desktop could be enough.

Before changing the installation, make a complete, verified backup. With a dual-boot setup, cloning the drive or backing up each important partition gives you a way to restore Windows or Linux if an upgrade or bootloader change goes wrong. It’s especially useful if you plan to experiment with different distributions.