Linux mint a good start?
Linux Mint, Zorin, and PopOS, probably in that order, are the three most frequently recommended distros for Linux newbies, especially Windows refugees.
You have to pay for Zorin but what you get for your money is added support direct from the developers. I've seen reports that Zorin tends to be behind other OSes in kernel updates.
PopOS, though proprietary (it is put out by System 76), is free. System 76 is a small company that has been around for only around five years and they or may not be around for a while. I haven't had great results from their laptop support but do not know if that would be the same for their PopOS support. Still, PopOS has been enjoying a fair amount of popularity.
Linux Mint is free. Support comes from forum volunteers and can be a bit hit and miss but, generally, is pretty good. Of the three, Mint has the largest development support due tho thousands of volunteers working on it. Cinnamon is the most popular desktop, especially for Windows refugees.
Ubuntu was the most popular distro but it has slipping in popularity while Mint is quickly catching up, especially since Win 7 is past its EOL. Ubuntu also collets some data from users. Supposedly, that data is anonymized and is not shared but we have heard that same line from Microsoft.
I went with Mint Cinnamon and have been happy with it. It took me a month to get to where I would use it as my daily driver but, since you have used Linux before, you could probably get there faster.
While a lot of people do it, many experts recommend against dual booting, especially for beginners to Linux. While some distros look a lot like Windows, under the hood, they are completely different from Windows and that can cause problems with dual booting. What is often recommeded for beginners is to install Linux on a separate, older computer and learn on that.
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