Asklemmy

If you are not going to install a non-beginner system like Arch or Gentoo then you should try a virtual machine first. Otherwise, it may come in handy if you want to choose a system with a desktop environment that suits you, because changing after installing a system for a novice user can be hard without avoiding problems.

In fact, on a virtual machine like Virtual Box you won't experience the problems you will encounter on real hardware (driver problem, etc.). It's better to test liveiso with Ventoy instead.

Background: I used linux for work in a vm for 6 years, (coding). Most of my life I have been using windows at home, since Win 3.11. For the last year and a half I have been full time linux user, Gaming and all. It is hard to tell what the pros and cons will be for you personally. My reccomendation:

• have some(a lot) spare time
• make sure you don't need your laptop for anything critical while experimenting
• make sure you have a way back to a known working config e.g. windows installer on usb
• have your data backed up somewhere, not on the laptop.
• Just install a more polular distro and try it, go in deep google/ai chat yourself trough the issues
• then decide if you want to go back to windows

If your hardware is supported and you find a distro that plays well with it, there are no cons