I've been thinking, some time down the road, of getting a computer and putting a Linux distro on it for my more serious stuff (art, music, video).
I can save you some time there. Keep in mind all of this is entirely free of charge.
1. Use Windows to download a program called Balena-Etcher.
Balena Etcher 1.7.8 - Flash OS images to SD cards & USB drives
2. Use Windows to download Linux Mint 20.3 iso file.
Download Linux Mint 20.3 - Linux Mint
3. Use Balena-Etcher to flash the Linux .iso file to your 16GB or higher flash drive. (4GB may be too small)
4. Insert the flash drive into a USB port. (USB 3.0 will install faster) Then access your computer's BIOS to manually boot up the flash drive.
5. Follow the instructions to install Linux Mint 20.3. Shouldn't take much longer than 15 minutes. Reboot. Make sure to follow the steps in the introduction, particularly to turn on the firewall.
At that point it's just a matter of exploring the OS and paying particular attention to the software (store) manager to download some important software:
Art (Bitmap photo formats) - Download Gimp 2.10
Art (Bitmap painting formats) - Download Krita 4.2.9
Art (Vector Graphics Format) - Download Inkscape 0.92
Music Player (MP3 and other audio formats) - Download "Audacious"
Music (Editing audio format files) - Download "Audacity 2.3.3"
Video Disc (DVD, Blu-Ray) Player - Download "SM Player"
Running Select Windows 64 or 32 bit programs: Download Wine 7.0. Do not use the software manager as it only has earlier versions of "Wine". The latest version is much better for me as I run ancient apps like Photoshop 5.5 and Illustrator 8.0. Follow these precise instructions on this website to install Wine 7.0:
https://computingforgeeks.com/how-to-install-wine-on-ubuntu-linux/
Loaded it all onto a ten year-old 64bit motherboard with 16Gb of DDR3 RAM and removable SSD. CPU is an Intel i5 Quad-Core 3.4Ghz 3570. The only real hardware problem I encountered had to do with my Intel High Definition Audio using a Realtek AC driver. Installed Linux Mint, where headphone sound worked but not my external speakers. Solved this issue by downloading an app called "Alsa-Tools-GUI" directly from the software manager. This set of sound utilities had a program called "HDA Jack Retask" that allowed me to make two minor internal changes that gave me back sound to my external speakers. I also had a bit of as popping sound whenever the system accessed a sound file. This I solved by following these audio instructions under "Bad Sound Fix Tips" for Linux Mint:
http://mreen.epizy.com/SoundFixTips.html?i=2
Visually Linux Mint 20.3 has a GUI that's relatively similar to Windows 10. Though it's so customizable you can do all kinds of things that Microsoft won't allow with Windows 11 for whatever reasons.
Note how I just altered my desktop's panel (tray) icons. Centered most of them and spread the others to the left and right. And I could still move the entire panel to the left, right or top if I so desired. And of course the size of both all the icons and panel can be changed. (I hate really large tray icons or the tray itself.)
All things which Microsoft is not allowing for Windows 11. Sad as you could do some of that in earlier versions.
If you like customizing your OS GUI, you're gonna love Linux Mint 20.3.
At times it can be frustrating, as other than appearances it's all quite different from how Windows works. But it's very rewarding once you get it all up and running. Gotta love the "dark" mode. Various hues of dark grey.