Newbie is a nicer word.
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Noob
> Contrary to the belief of many, a noob/n00b and a newbie/newb are not the same thing. Newbs are those who are new to some task* and are very beginner at it, possibly a little overconfident about it, but they are willing to learn and fix their errors to move out of that stage. n00bs, on the other hand, know little and have no will to learn any more. They expect people to do the work for them and then expect to get praised about it
The specifics of the definition probably vary depending on who you ask but that's roughly it.
Now it's fine to joke around and call yourself a noob, that's just self-deprecating.
But if you're talking about other people and don't want to inadvertently offend, stick to "newbie" in speech or "newbie/newb" in writing, which have a connotation entirely of "beginner" as opposed to "idiot".
(Of course, if you're among friends where you enjoy making fun of each other, say whatever you want!)
[1] https://www.etymonline.com/word/noob
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newbie#Connotations_of_variant...