Want to thank the OP and commenters for this. I am not a hacker, and am hanging on to a Windows 10 and 7 (yes) laptop. I need to make some time and get one of the Linux systems. It would help a great deal if someone wrote or pointed to a blog that has step by step instructions. Something like a Hello World including what to use for common applications like browsing, writing documents, and spreadshees. Thank you.
Executive summary: use Linux Mint. The latest version, with the default Cinnamon desktop. Anyone who disagrees has an agenda and it's not ease of use, so can probably be ignored.
