If you are even slightly interested & slightly adventurous - the free Linux distros are as easy to use as Windows XP was.
The installing & learning curve is fairly painless.
point & click install
no virus problems
free open source software
just open the built in software program and find what you want & click to install it..
Many of the top distros have WINE - which allows for many Windows software programs to run on Linux..
It took Win XP shutting down for me to fully change..but it was an easy change after all..
Playing with various Linux distros over the years, I have found my main stay.
My favorite distro is
MINT MATE - I'll link some screen shots & info pages -
http://linuxmint.com/rel_rosa_mate_whatsnew.php
http://linuxbsdos.com/2015/12/07/lin...e-screenshots/
http://www.linuxmint.com/screenshots.php
ZorinOS is another beginner friendly distro- and a Lite version for slower laptops/computers.
http://zorinos.com/
And all you do to get these is download the version - usually the 32 bit - and then burn it to a dvd
download/ install info- burn the image file (.iso) to a blank DVD (any type) at the slowest possible speed in order to avoid any errors.
http://zorinos.com/installguide.html
* AND most of the linux distros come as a LIVE cd , you can put the cd in and boot up the system fresh from the cd. (CD must be set to check first before hard drive in BIOS - so if it doesn't boot off cd that is probably why)
Linux will run off the cd /dvd so you can test it to see if you like it.. It will be slower than an actual installed version though.. If you don't like it just close it down , take cd out and restart back to your Windows OS..nothing gets changed .
But if you decide you like it, there is an install icon right on the main screen to start the install process, and it only take about 20 mins vs hour/s to install .
If you plan to keep your Windows and make a dual boot system , you might need to read about how to do that before hand.
Some of the Linux install set ups will make it very simple and ask you if you want to install side by side with windows.. some are a little more complicated unless you wipe the whole drive and only install Linux.