Linux

I'd say try Kubuntu. It's like Ubuntu but with KDE (Windows-like user interface) instead of GNOME (shitty Mac clone turned tablet like interface). It's well-supported and is easy to use. Also supports new technologies like HDR which Mint is lacking. Though you can install KDE on pretty much any distro (Mint included) but it's a good starting place.

Note to fellow Linux veterans: Yes, I know snaps suck but it is not something new users need concearn themselves with. Kubuntu is a great distro except for snaps which aren't going to affect OP's use-case (or most use-cases. Also sorry for shitting on GNOME so much. If you like it that's cool, I just don't think we should be recomending it to people coming from Windows.

Yes. Steam is available on Linux, pretty easy to install and it comes with a compatibility layer (Proton) which works quite well.

Linux is a bit different than Windows. But I'd say just using it is about as complicated as using Windows. You'll just have to try and see whether you like it. And if it's hard or easy for you to relearn a few things. I mean if you're in the Browser and Steam all day, those will be the same applications and also look and work the same way. Other than that you could face some issues with gaming hardware and you have to fiddle with things, or everything works out of the box. You can't tell beforehand.

There's tons of youtube videos / tutorials on how to create a live usb of a distro, such as linux mint. This will allow you to boot into linux and play around without installing anything and get a feel for linux. It's nowhere as tech wizardry as you think.

And if all your games are on steam and don't have anti cheat things, they'll probably just all work with proton (linux compatibility tool in steam).

If you want real gaming performance then arch all the way with archinstall. Trust, it's insanely good and you can get double of what you get on windows in terms of performance. Boot times are also insane. I have used so many distros and I can tell you that arch is king for performance.

Back up your data and dual boot. Or just try it out from a USB stick and see how you like it.

I'm moving at the moment. Linux Mint is a good stable Windows alternative, but I wanted to separate gaming from other things so I am dual booting. I have had luck with Pop_OS! before but recently had issues with a laptop WiFi adapter, had some issues getting Bazzite working, so ended up with CachyOS, which has been really slick and easy so far.

A nice thing with Linux is how easy it is to cycle through a few distros if you have your main files on a different drive or partition, since you don't lose anything important when switching that way.

Yes, ez one (if you have installed operating systems before and know how to paste an error passage into google ) -4hours and your done start to finish. (Given you have standard hardware and don't want to set up something crazy like dual boot with raid and nas)

Moderate complexity if you have never done anything like that, plan 2-6 evenings to get it fully working with everything you need

Also: consider your scopes. For most cases Linux will just work, you just have to get used to some different interfaces.

BUT: some things will not run under linux no matter how hard you try --> google if stuff you can't live without will work

(for me I still have a dual boot windows for playing league of legends and running my vive wireless adapter, as those will not run under Linux.

For games use protonDB

I may be oldschool, but for people not comfortable around terminals I would suggest Debian KDE as it never breaks and the transition from windows is easy. You can do everything from GUI (clicky button interfaces)

For the installation of steam you might need a terminal, but there are good guides online (and you really dont need to be a wizard for that) from where you can just copy paste (when searching just add your distro e.g. "install steam Debian", and once you've got that running you can just run every game from within steam.

Since Steam has done a lot of work with proton, most games just run under Linux. In steam: Install-->play

For nearly all games not directly running, you can just force them to run with proton. It will say: "Game not compatible" in steam, you just click the gear icon on the right to open settings, go to "compatibilty" and tick "force use of compatibility layer" and select the newest proton from the drop down

The button where steam previously said "not compatible" magically turns into the blue "install" button we all know and love. And nearly all games run with only minor inconveniences (like showing keyboard hotkeys even when playing with a gamepad) or no issues at all.

You need to be aware that some games using kernel level anticheat (e.g. league of legends, valorant) can not and will never run on Linux, if the developers of the games don't add the possibility.

EDIT: for programs not related to gaming its often easier to use an alternative, if the program is not available for Linux. Most times its also more privacy foccused, open source and free

Adobe light room --> darktable

Microsoft office --> libre office

Adobe Premiere pro --> davinci resolve/shotcut

Paint/Photoshop --> gimp/davinci/dark table

Edge --> firfox

Notepad --> Kate

Fraps/relive/shadowPlay --> OBS

Etc. Pp.

Consider your library: most games will be able to run fine on Linux. However, if you predominantly play online multiplayer games which require anticheat you should check compatibility on ProtonDB.

Second, consider your hardware: if your GPU is AMD you're good to go. Nvidia might have issues (not sure if this has been resolved since I last had to look into it).

Finally, choose a distro: I'd recommend Ubuntu or anything Ubuntu-based. There's a lot of mixed answers in the Linux community and definitely a ton of hate for Ubuntu. However, as someone who has been running Linux for nearly a decade at this point, there are a few key points:

1. Ubuntu is debian based, so it's extremely stable(but not as slow to update)

2. Ubuntu is very beginner friendly, and you won't need to touch the terminal if you don't want to

3. Everyone hates on snaps, but for you I don't think you'll run into an issue with it.

Personally, I steer towards debian based distros for my devices as well because I'd rather spend time messing with the software I'm running or other things NOT debugging why my config is suddenly shitting the bed