If you want to learn more, don't make the transition easy. Get a second laptop that is Linux-compatible and get a difficult distribution. It will force you to learn more faster. Linux From Scratch is the most hardcore (and, imho, fun!) way to deep-dive. I'm not familiar with the newer, more expert-level distros but I'm sure others can give suggestions.<p>If you don't want to learn more and just want a "working computer", use either Ubuntu or Fedora, as they have the most support. If you use Ubuntu you'll want to use Kubuntu or one of its derivatives as the default Ubuntu desktop is one of the most unusable and featureless things I've ever used.<p>Laptop wise, look up distributions' officially supported laptop lists, and laptop vendors' laptops that officially support linux. Lenovo and I think Dell have some officially supported Linux laptops. Then there's a smattering of vendors who sell laptops with Linux as the only OS. Any of these will save you lots of headaches; an incompatible laptop can leave you struggling for weeks to get it to work, if it'll work at all. Generally stay away from brand-new gear as it's the most likely to use something that doesn't yet have good Linux support, or may require the newest Linux software which isn't supported on slightly older stable Linux distro releases. Finally, always look up reviews of that laptop with Linux, as you may find quirks like poor performance, overheating, battery issues, wifi/bluetooth connectivity issues, non-working keys, and more.<p>I recently got a ThinkPad T14s Gen4 and it works very well with Ubuntu 24.04. You need to check the generation of the laptop, though, as the internals change and may make it not compatible anymore. In general I would suggest buying a laptop which you can return within 30 days, as you may find you either don't like the laptop itself, or its Linux support is too quirky.