Desktop Linux distros have come a pretty long way in the last decade or so; you can even play some Windows games on the modern ones. Steam has a built-in compatibility tool (Proton) that will allow you to at least try and run Windows game, for standalone games there's Lutris, and you can check compatibility at https://www.protondb.com/.
Still, once in a while you might run into some weird issue that'll be difficult to fix. If you're considering making a switch, I'd definitely recommend a popular distro like Ubuntu, Mint, or Fedora, because it'll have way more tutorials and documentation available than others. Arch has a ton of excellent docs too, but avoid that unless you're a masochist.
It's a good idea to start by dualbooting at first. Keep Windows and try your hand at Linux to see if it does what you need.
For someone who's tec ability doesn't go much past searching for error codes and following guides, is non Windows OS's viable?
Desktop Linux distros have come a pretty long way in the last decade or so; you can even play some Windows games on the modern ones. Steam has a built-in compatibility tool (Proton) that will allow you to at least try and run Windows game, for standalone games there's Lutris, and you can check compatibility at https://www.protondb.com/.
Still, once in a while you might run into some weird issue that'll be difficult to fix. If you're considering making a switch, I'd definitely recommend a popular distro like Ubuntu, Mint, or Fedora, because it'll have way more tutorials and documentation available than others. Arch has a ton of excellent docs too, but avoid that unless you're a masochist.
It's a good idea to start by dualbooting at first. Keep Windows and try your hand at Linux to see if it does what you need.