I have tried Linux in the past on on some very old machines I don't really use any longer but recently I installed it on a laptop I still use.
For several years I have been nursing along my 12 year old HP Envy laptop with upgrades like replacing to original HD with an SSD, adding more RAM, and a better WiFi card. I managed to install Windows 11 using one of the popular workarounds for very incompatible hardware. This machine was with me all the time when I was consulting and connected to a TV when at home. I paid a local fellow to clean the fans and replace the cooling paste on the CPU. It made a huge difference on the operating temperatures.
Since I don't travel much any longer and have the mini PC connected to the TV I hadn't used the laptop in several months.
Yesterday I fired it up and it failed on boot. I ran all the repair routines that Windows suggested but nothing worked. I decided it was time to ditch Windows and install Linux Mint. I downloaded Mint and made a bootable USB drive using a routine called Balena Etcher. After a bit I figured out the right key to push to choose the boot device and boot from the USB drive. Mint gives you a chance to to try it out first before actually blowing away Windows and all your files.
The installation was flawless and everything worked. It even found both printers on the network and set them up. It comes with Firefox so I logged into my FF account and had all my bookmarks and passwords. In 30 minutes I had a usable machine. Setting up G mail and my own email at my company domain was easy. It found my network drive right away and I added it. I have fought with Windows for hours to get it to add a network drive on a Raspberry Pi. Anyone who has tried to run a peer to peer home network with Windows knows what I am talking about.
The bottom line is I don't think I will be going back to Windows. The old laptop might have an undiscovered hardware issue I have not found yet, but so far it has not crashed. I ran hardware tests on the SSD and memory when I was trying to get Windows 11 to run. everything passed.
= new reply since forum marked as read