Get a few USB disks and try the most popular ones. Don't mess around with virtual machines, a USB disk costs less than 12$ these days. You can start a complete

Get a few USB disks and try the most popular ones. Don't mess around with virtual machines, a USB disk costs less than 12$ these days. You can start a complete Linux system from USB. If you need to work immediately: Manjaro XFCE, Ubuntu Mate, Fedora. If you have a lot of time: Gentoo, Linux From Scratch, Arch, Slackware.