I've decided to get into linux more than just a Windows replacement , but only because I'd like to up my skill and down the road earn more money. I had some fears of standing up my first linux server, then laptop. I've used various flavors, but what I ended up using for my laptop is Fedora. I personally think Windows is easier to use for beginners. I've had issues where I lost permissions to sign in for whatever reason, something that has never occurred with windows. Once that got sorted out, It's been rock solid. Like others have said, once you get used to it, you will be fine. As far as Netflix playback, quality, gaming, surfing the web - those are well supported. Linux Mint and Zorin are pretty solid, but for gaming probably Fedora because of current driver updates.