Can’t recommend channels or guides of the top of my head, but maybe search Linux Mint beginner guide or something. Linux Mint is recommended everywhere for people who are new to Linux and should have plenty of guides and answers

Hey, others have already replied to a lot of things and you've already downloaded Mint (which is what I would have recommended also), so I would like to point out some things I always tell newcomers and some specific things for what you said.

First of all: Linux is not Windows is the hardest lesson to learn, there are a lot of things you're used to doing one way, but that doesn't make that way correct. The main example is installing software, looking on the internet and downloading a binary from a website is NOT how you do it, the example I always give is that of a smartphone, it's just as ridiculous to do in Linux than on a smartphone and for the same reasons. Instead use the package manager of your distro, that should work like the play/app store (except it's free), and if something is not there maybe you can add a repository to it, or maybe the program doesn't exist on Linux, only as a last resource should you do it manually.

Partitions and drives: Linux doesn't have the concept of a C: or D: drives, instead drives/partitions are mounted onto regular folders, so navigating through them is seamless. This means that if for example you were t mount the folder that contains all of your personal user data (/home) into a different partition from the root of the system (i.e /), you could format and change the system entirely without losing any personal data. This is very useful because it's very likely you will poke something and break stuff, with much freedom comes much power to break things, so being able to reinstall your system without worrying about your personal data is a good thing.

Drivers: mostly you shouldn't worry about drivers on Linux, unless your GPU is Nvidia, if so you should worry about drivers a lot. Nvidia's work best with the proprietary nvidia driver (instead of the default open nouveau driver), but the fact that the driver is proprietary makes it a pain in the ass to deal. You should 100% use it since you're gaming, but you should steer away from distributions that use Wayland (nevermind what this is for now) instead of X11 (Mint so far uses X11). If you have a Radeon you shouldn't worry about this.

I use my PC mainly for streaming

Be careful, afaik not all streaming software/sites are compatible with Linux. But that's not a world I dabbled much, I know OBS works excellently, but other than that don't know much.

downloading torrent files who's copyright you don't need to worry about

We all have torrent downloaders, for our Linux iso which are distributed via torrent of course

and light gaming. Usually just messing with New Vegas mods.

Iirc new Vegas is not on the supported list on steam, so you need to go to settings and enable Proton compatibility for all titles. I've never put mods so not sure how to do that, but you might need to read something before because the game is being run through a compatibility layer, so the files are not exactly where you would expect, and if you need to run a binary to find those files it needs to be in the same profile as new Vegas (each game creates their own profile based on steam ID, and each profile is in a different folder). Other than that New Vegas works perfectly on Linux, I've played it a long time ago, and now with the TV show I've started again.

Last but not least: Welcome!

Typically recommended guides:

https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.com/p/1.html

https://linuxjourney.com/

Have a good transition and if you stick with Mint, I'd recommend the official forums for any questions: https://forums.linuxmint.com/index.php

Since you chose Linux Mint—good choice btw—something to keep in mind is that Mint is based on Ubuntu. While you’re learning and searching the interwebs for how to do x, y, and z, if you don’t find an article or guide specifically about Mint, try searching the same phrase replacing “mint” with “ubuntu.” There’s far more content out there about Ubuntu than Mint, but since Mint is based on Ubuntu, 9 times out of 10 the same solution on an Ubuntu forum works in Mint.

Good luck!

Some people aren't gonna like me saying this. But when used responsibly chatgpt is the absolute linux mvp.

I stopped being a windows user a month after getting access to gpt4, its been amazing. I learned so much in general and it would not have been feasible for me without there-are-no-dumb-questions-ai

You learn by using it.

Which means you want to do something on Linux. You don't know how to do it, then you ask or search for the answer and then you know.

Just be patient and it will come naturally.

explainingcomputers on youtube.

But really he just shows how there's nothing to it these days.
Probably easier than a windows install.
Especially if you try to force your brain to read the windows user agreement - I tried to do a micrsoft virtual machine install recently, and got stuck at the EUA. My mouse just refused to click yes.

This may come as a shock but Linux is good for learning Linux. You can't beat experience.

come back here if you need to understand something about it

Hey, friend. I just wanted to let you know that I couldn't get New Vegas to run on my (up to date) Linux PC until I installed the custom Proton version called "Proton GE." The GE stands for Glorious Eggroll, which is the username of the developer. There's guides on how to install it on the GitHub's readme. I know it may sound complicated to someone new, but you can do it!

Here's a link to the read me: https://github.com/GloriousEggroll/proton-ge-custom?tab=readme-ov-file#manual

Scroll down to the "native" install instructions.

Of course, you can ignore this if New Vegas just works for you as it seems to for many others. My system is MX Linux, not Mint.

Yeah, I'd say ideally you should be able to run mint and just figure out what you need to do with minimal difficulty.

My partner started using mint recently and the two biggest annoyances for her are having to enter her password all the time to update anything, and minor windowing differences, especially going in and out of fullscreen games. I think both of those are just a matter of getting used to how it's done differently outside of windows.

IMO the thing that could use some attention is their package manager. There are several warnings and failures that I think have been unnecessary.

ex 1. Almost every update will ask if she's sure she wants to resolve some package conflict in some default way. This is not a question a normal user is equipped to answer, and only makes the user uneasy about what's happening.

ex 2. When she initially installed, the welcome wizard had her run a speed test to rank her repo sources, and she picked a nearby university that seemed like a good choice. Then a few days ago at random, it became inaccessible I guess, and now her package update fails to update Firefox specifically. I need to help her sort that out, haven't had time.

These are the kinds of errors I expect to see on arch occasionally, but on mint I feel like it should always figure out what the best option is for the user and just do it. If it needs to let the user know it did something, fine, but don't present it ominously. Just put the system in a good state so that it'll keep working, that's all a normal mint user wants you to do.

Most of the Ubuntu guides online should work for you if you’re using Mint. (Unless you’re using Mint Debian Edition, but even then a lot will work.)

Saw the edits and I would like to congratulate you on the start of your journey.

All of the stuff you mentioned works very well - OBS is native, (and if you miss the performance of ShadowPlay, somebody made a replacement!
qBittorrent is native (and IMO the best) and the vast majority of games work on Linux now!(ProtonDB is a great resource for seeing what works and what does, and it even has a profile feature where you can plug in your Steam account username so it can automatically show you what's compatible!)
Mods are slightly finicky, but SteamTinkerLaunch will likely be able to solve all your problems, and r/linux_gaming has numerous discussions and workarounds, including this very recent and relevant one!

Have fun, and try not to get caught up in distrohopping!

Bazzite, it is already tweaked to contain what is meeded for gaming, and has isos ready built based on your hardware type. https://bazzite.gg/

Quick tip to add to all the other advice: if Linux give you a warning, please read it carefully. Its not windows where you can safely blow through warnings. Otherwise, use it and enjoy!

Yeah just boot it up and fuck around. You'll eventually want to do something that isn't obviously doable, and then you'll look it up. A series of rabbit holes later and you'll have learned a bunch of stuff. Maybe not the thing you originally wanted to, but some other stuff!

if you use obs for streaming i've had better stability out of it on linux than on mac or windows. probably says more about obs than those oses though.

new vegas is gold support listed on protondb, so it probably works fine

do a dual boot install so you can go back when you need to. that means before you install inux, chkdisk, defrag and turn off bitlocker.

make a backup.

I see you got your answer, but I'm adding on for anyone else that comes across this.

For me, I learned the most when I had a disposable and replaceable system. When I was dual booted I was too scared to touch anything in case it fucked everything up. Once I started poking round on a Pi, LiveUSB, etc it was a lot easier to learn because I could always restart.

Id start there with something like Mint or Ubuntu. Then set it up in a way where you can easily replace your OS so you can reset it often and fuck around. Then just learn as you go.

Definitely check out The Linux Experiment on YouTube. DistroTube and Mental Outlaw also make great videos about Linux, some of them are more advanced though. If you need to learn how to use the Terminal, check out Learn Linux TV, as well as some other recommendations from these threads: https://lemdro.id/post/8480193 and https://lemmy.ml/post/15455439

I have minimal computer expertise.

This is the source of your problem. Unless you learn more about computers and how to use them, you're guaranteed to have more problems on Linux than you've had on Windows.

The majority of the Windows gripes this community complains about are unlikely to ever be encountered by people with minimal expertise. Windows is fantastic as a layperson's operating system (and many Linux distros are, as well), so your problems are probably user-caused.

This might be cliche, but the For Dummy's books by Wiley were how I started learning about both Windows and Linux when I was a teenager. In fact, they were how I learned that Linux existed and sparked a curiosity in IT that is culminating in my graduation with an IT degree in July.

Welcome to the club! I hope you find Mint to your liking!