If you are coming from Windows I recommend Linux Mint as a easy to use first Linux to try. Ubuntu is good too and is the base for Mint. I'm not sure how old your laptop is but there are distros of Linux designed for really old hardware.

There are many tradeoffs with Linux but I have never heard anyone that tried it say it was slower than their Windows on the same machine. Its not bloated and filled with spyware. Ubuntu and Mint have app stores that should have most of the things you need and use on Windows.

If you end up loving Linux there are tons of options and rabbit trails you can go down. But, just getting started is the best thing to do. Don't get stuck in picking the "right" Linux distro. Just go with Ubuntu or Mint. Hard to go wrong.

I use Fedora and Arch daily but I could do all my work on Mint or Ubuntu without an issue.