Friend, I am no Linux shill, but I switched to Mint last week on my secondary laptop, and let me tell you, it's kinda cash and pretty easy.

I had to verify the integrity and authenticity of the Mint download itself, but it's straightforward and tells you how to do that. Once you're done, you install the OS just like you would with Windows.

Full disclosure, I don't use the laptop for much, so no fiddling needed for me.

Edit: I guess I am shilling it, but I mean I'm not a Linux fanboy