It's also worth mentioning that there are users, such as myself, who want to set up their own instances and play with the technology. The stats of what you see for user volume and using that as a metric to determine engagement is pre-federation thinking (both literally and figuratively). More numbers = more safety in a false scarcity environment right?
Anyhow, this site is federated and it's not alone. I'm excited to be here.
I think you would find a system76 machine to be a good choice overall, but if you are just learning you might want to start with the OS in a VM in windows and then progress before investing in hardware. You can try Pop out there if you like, or even with the live boot option to get a feel for it.
Personally I use my Thelio with gaming and the windows compatibility tools in steam. It works beyond great.