u/EngineerInTheMachine
EngineerInTheMachine
EngineerInTheMachine
You aren't being open-minded enough. The instructions for installs are very clear. The most common noob mistake is clinging onto the apps you use in Windows just because you are used to them. The Linux equivalents work equally as well.
I installed both 3D printer slicers I usually use easily. The Terminal commands are given in the install instructions, so you just need to copy and paste them.
My personal email account is an exchange account. So I just use the web version of Outlook.
Why the hell do you want to use Windows OneDrive? Take your data out of that and just put it into some other cloud-based storage system. It's not as if you aren't spoilt for choice. Of course, that assumes that you don't mind your personal data files hosted somewhere else in the world where you have no control over who has access.
EngineerInTheMachine
So train your colleagues to use compatible formats. Most computer users misuse the apps they are given, and need bad habits training out of them.
For example, how many people use AutoCAD with a dark background, simply because in the early days that's all it could do? Drawings are printed out on paper. Paper is white, not black. And yellow lines become almost invisible on white paper.
So teach your colleagues to catch up with the modern world.
EngineerInTheMachine
Stick to Windows. You've made your bed, now lie in it.
Or.
Do you really need all those macros for just Word? Are you just giving it functionality that is better in other more dedicated apps? Take a good hard look at why you want to cling on to it. Avoiding a lot of work to achieve the same results in Linux isn't a good excuse, if you really want to be free of Windows.
Of course, you can do what I am. Retain Windows as a dual boot until I am confident I have transferred all the functionality across. I have a similar issue in that no free Linux apps can read AutoCAD 3D files. Only professional payware. I've accepted that I am going to have to recreate those files in FreeCAD from the basic dimensions. A lot of work, but it's worth it to get rid of Windows.
EngineerInTheMachine
Work out what you usually want to do on your laptop
Search for the distros recommended for those uses
Make a shortlist of the most common recommendations
Go to their websites, read about them and decide which one(s) to try
Read the install instructions and follow them
The spec has very little impact on the choice of distro.
Of course, you could have searched for this and found this out for yourself. I did.
You are asking to start from the wrong perspective. Are you sure you need to retain Office 365? That's a Microsoft office suite, and of course only runs on Windows. There are plenty of office suites out there that run on Linux, and do exactly the same job.
OneDrive is also Microsoft's cloud storage. There are plenty of other cloud storage solurions out there that aren't Microsoft. But if privacy is an issue, why are you hosting your personal files on some unknown server somewhere in the world, that you have no control over, rather than on your own home network behind a firewall?
Wallpaper engine. That sounds like a specific app, and a nice-to-have, not an essential. The aim is to switch to a new OS and carry over the functionality you need first and foremost, not the specific apps. Then carry over the functionality you would like. Can you switch Wallpaper engine? No idea. Do a search, that's what the Internet is good at. If not, do a search for Linux alternatives.
For which distro to choose, search for how to choose your distro. Follow the instructions. It's not difficult. Just be aware that you are planning to change your operating system, which means some fairly deep level changes to your computer. The instructions are out there, you just need to follow them. You don't have to be an IT professional, but a bit of background experience helps. Plus good web search skills.