I bought a laptop yesterday, it came pre-installed with Windows 11. I hate win 11 so I switched it down to Windows 10, but then started considering using Linux for total control over the laptop, but here’s the thing: I keep seeing memes about how complicated or fucky wucky Linux is to install and run. I love the idea of open source software and an operating system without any of the bullshit that comes with Windows, but most of the open source stuff I have is on my android and fairly easy to install. Installing and using Linux just feels like it’ll be a whole different beast that’ll eat up most of my time and I’m kind of intimidated by it.
TL;DR Linux scawy, how does a barely computer literate scrub like me who’s used nothing but windows since the dawn of their life get started with Linux?
you can use a live USB - you run linux off a USB Thumbdrive as a test. Ubuntu would be a good place to start: https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/create-a-usb-stick-on-windows#1-overview
There’s a big ol scary warning before entering the installer and before any changes are made to your HDD/SSD, it would take a lot of mistakes in a row to somehow erase Windows by accident while using the Live USB.