linuxmemes

recommend for a lifelong windows user to try out Linux?

Try out, what of Linux?

• Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 - you get the full command line 🔧, and can kind of run some desktops. Thanks to HyperX, it runs in a "sister" VM to Windows, so zero performance penalty (compared to Windows). Easiest, fastest, not necessarily the best.
• Cygwin - no Linux kernel, just userland software, that is command line, some desktop, some software. Quick to start 🐇, but somewhat limited.
• OSBoxes - pick any distro, download a preinstalled image, fire it up in either VirtualBox or VMware. Great for a quick first contact. Great to mess things up and not care 💥, including if you try to manually rebuild the kernel and it refuses to boot. Hardware is partially emulated, so not 100% like the real thing, but it comes really close. But look at the beautiful desktops! Pretty pictures! 🤩 (this is what most people think they want, judging by most distro reviews and comparisons).
• Android - it's Linux, it lacks most of the userland but it can be added (see Termux), and you're likely to find a cheap smartphone/tablet to mess with.
• Cloud virtual private server / Bare hardware hosting - if you're going to mess up a system, why mess up your own? Rent a cheap option, and mess it up.
• THE MAXIMUM GAMING PERFORMANCE 🚀 - ...try some of the previous ones first, you'll need the experience. Then look into how to dual-boot, or better yet, get a second PC and install your favorite Linux distro (which you'll know which one it is by now) as the only OS. Tweak, fix, patch, etc. until your eyes bleed out, and you get those extra 2 fps you never knew you needed to make your life complete!
• ROCK SOLID WORKHORSE 💪 - try all the above, then pick two distros: dual boot, mess the partitions, recover them, go into one distro, login as root and delete half the files at random, shut down the computer, power it up and recover the messed up distro from the second working one without reinstalling, reboot again into the first distro, "upgrade" it to the second one without reinstalling, clean it up so it looks like it was freshly installed... then delete it, reinstall, and see what you should have backed up in order not to lose stuff, make your backup, delete the distro, recover from backup. Practice until you lose zero data in the process, now automate the process. Finally, install and fully customize Gentoo. After that... whatever you pick, you'll be fine 🙂