I've been hearing more and more negative things about the new Windows and its privacy issues and with 10 having an end of support date I'd like to change before then...but everything i see about Linux makes it seem like its not something I want. I don't do any work on my computer so customization means nothing to me, its 90% a device for playing games with friends. The issue from this is that a lot of the games I play would need some sort of work around/WINE/other pre-reqs to work and I am too dumb to use a command line. The only thing i ever used it for prior is ipconfig, it doesnt seem very user friendly especially for someone who doesnt work with computers directly.
While I can use a VM for anything that would be on XP and back id have to find the actual game i want to run and download that which can be tricky at best when i already have it on Steam or other library. I have heard Proton or Lutris for running games but those are just words to me and i dont know what they do and it sounds like more junk to use a command line for. Dual booting is also something i would rather avoid as if i need to use windows for something and restart my computer i may as well just use windows anyway. Is it really worthwhile for me to bother with linux for just suck it up and deal with windows and microsoft.
Others said it already, but my summary take:
Linux can be easy. Mint, Pop_OS, and Ubuntu are all designed to be relatively user friendly. Of the three I mentioned, the only specific complaint I have is that I think Pop_OS is kind of ugly. Also, I don't use any of those three, myself, but I think they're solid recommendations.
When it comes to switching to Linux, it is a matter of re-learning what to do, and with user-friendly distros that does not really mean you have to spend time in the terminal. You could if you want, but there are typically guides, GUIs, and all that. It's only been getting easier over the years, to the point that I'd say it's quite easy now. I exclusively use Linux today, and never envision myself turning back.
If you still figure, "nah, I want to use Windows, but I fear the dumpster OS called Windows 11," you can download Windows 10 LTSC IoT which will be supported for like another 10 years and then activate it with massgravel MAS. You can find download links for Windows and the activation scripts all here from this link. https://github.com/massgravel/Microsoft-Activation-Scripts. I tried this in a VM not long ago and it worked pretty effortlessly, but I did end up deleting that VM because I still find Windows repulsive and unusable. But at least the LTSC is slightly less icky because of how it's designed to fit into long-term enterprise workloads.