Linux

+1 for Fedora. I recommend Kinoite as it is very similar to windows and very hard to break due to it's "immutability".

Bazzite is very similar to Fedora Kinoite but made to be easy for gaming.

I'm too tired to reply to everything but for those who didn't know the Nexus Mods App is pretty good already and is in its AppImage stage. Any of the games it supports are flawless imo

Lots of good answers to your other Qs here so I'm gonna focus on your last one. If you lack in-depth computer skills as much as I'm imagining, than I think the best distro for you would be Bazzite.

Firstly, I'm going to call out the users here suggesting Mint. Mint is only a good beginner distro for people that are already "early adopters" or tech-savvy to switch to Linux for the first time. When I first switched from Windows 10 on my desktop last year, I tried Mint. Keep in mind, I have extensive knowledge of the commandline and headless Debian from several years of running a homelab. I found it completely intolerable how much wasn't intuitive, how difficult cinnamon was, how much set up was involved in getting graphics drivers working, and gaming going. It wasn't that I'm incapable, it's that I don't want my gaming desktop to require that much tinkering just to play games. Let alone that I can't imagine how steep that learning curve would be for a casual gamer with minimal tech skills.

That brings me to Bazzite. I switched back fully to Windows 10 for several months because of how disillusioned I was before learning about it. Bazzite is one of a handful of distros that have taken the SteamOS experience from the Steam Deck and tried to build on/improve it. It uses the KDE desktop environment, which is super similar to Windows 10 in look and feel. It includes everything you need for gaming right out of the box, including graphics drivers already installed, Steam as well, all of the frameworks and compatibility tools you need already configured. It's immutable too, which means the system directories are locked down so you can't accidentally break things. There's a unified system updater that cover everything. The system, your applications, compatibility tools, all of it updated with just one click.

As well, games just work without needing special configuration. It's truly the easiest to use distro for people switching from Win10 that just want to play games with their computer, maybe some internet browsing and email alongside that. You also don't have to worry about stupid codec issues if you wanna watch youtube or streaming sites in the browser.

Seriously people, stop recommending Mint. All the folks who would be okay with the amount of tinkering it requires have already made the switch. If we want the less tech-savy gaming folks to be able to make the switch, we need to be recommending something that will just work out of the gates for them. Pushing them to distro-hop is just going to push them to Win11. Plus, the more that make that leap, the more likely game devs will have to target WINE, the less games will be borked. It's already pretty minimal though, especially if it doesn't use anti-cheat.

Will my ability to play games be significantly affected compared to Windows?

Depends on the game. In general no, unless it has kernel anticheat, which Linux will not allow because that's a glaring security risk.

Can I mod games as freely and as easily as I do on Windows?

Yes.

If a program has no Linux version, is it unusable, or are there workarounds?

Most Windows software can be run on Linux using Wine. But there are advantages to using Linux-specific alternatives - they are often lighter and faster.

How do OS updates work in Linux? Is there a "Linux Update" program like what Windows has?

Yes, each distribution has its own update tool. They also install and update software (like in Android, where Google Play installs and updates all apps and not just the OS). No need to download exe files from random websites.

How does digital security work on Linux? Is it more vulnerable due to being open source? Is there integrated antivirus software, or will I have to source that myself?

Linux is generally much more secure than Windows, because it is open-source. Most internet servers and supercomputers use Linux partly because of its security.

Are GPU drivers reliable on Linux?

Nvidia is notoriously bad but getting better. AMD is good.

Can Linux (in the case of a misconfiguration or serious failure) potentially damage hardware?

No.

And also, what distro might be best for me?

Linux Mint. It is stable, reasonably up to date and does not make confusing changes every update. It also tends to work on most systems.

I opened the topic while knowing there will be a ton of super enthusiastic and well-constructed answers. I'm not disappointed 🍿

I just made the swap the other day. I figured there would be a huge learning curve but theres really not. I been on the steam deck for a couple years now and I realized all the games I play run on linux. Im using bazzite and its set up for gaming comes with steam and lutris for non steam stuff.

first quesrion: no unless you play rainbiw six or fortnite all games run with wine or proton tou could take a look at garuda gaming edition 2: Yes you can r2modman has a appimage (universal linux app) and forge has a linux client for minecraft 3: you could use wine or always just spin up a windows vm if you need it and it doesnt work with wine 4: yes it can run .NET using the wine compaitibilty layer 5: updates are distro specific for example on debain ud do sudo apt update && upgrade or on arch its sudo pacman -Syu 6: its actuslly more secure with it being open source because anyonr can check for vulrabiltys and since its so unkown theres little malware affecting desktop users most are targeting servers and theres one av i know called clamtk theres also rkhunter that looks for root kits only 7: linux has a weird reltonship with gpu drivers for nvidia theres nvidia open source that offer worse perfomrance but are open source and nvidia properitary that run better but are prob spyware 8: Linux cant really damage hardware 9: for distros Linux Mint is and like windows Pop os is good for gaming or for a arch linux based exooernce but still easy try garuda gaming it comes with everything you need to game.