Both Linux Mint (on this laptop) and Ubuntu are incredibly simple to install and retain Windows if you wish.
I have dumped Windows (7) from this machine, didn’t want it in the first place.
Have Ubuntu on my main computer, bought as bare metal.
Xubuntu on another slightly disastrous ‘fixer’ that previously had virused-to-death XP install, way beyond repair and no recovery option, recovery partition corrupt too.
It takes around twenty minutes to install either Mint or Ubuntu. Installed while online so it pulls in most of the most recent files rather than the ones from the distribution release, then maybe another ten minutes to perform the security updates.