Finally Ditching Windows 10, Linux Suggestions Needed

I am familiar with Linux and have used live distros in the past, but it has been a few years. Lately I have been using Windows 10, but I know that is a privacy nightmare and so I want to make a switch. I want to immerse myself in Linux and so I don't want a live cd, I want to install it on my hard drive and just completely get rid of Windows.

On my laptop I will pretty much just browse the internet, download the occasional torrent, stream videos, listen to music, and watch my local videos. I am looking for a distro that values privacy and will allow me to do all of the above.

My laptop has ran Windows 10 with no problem. I am using a solid state drive and it is pretty small, only 60gb. I have a 2.30 GHz dual core processor and the max 4 GB Ram installed.

 

All of the Live Distros have the ability to install as well. Linux Mint LMDE would be my choice because you don't have to wait for the next major release to get updates but, in the end, the choice is going to be yours.

 

Thanks for the advice, are you familiar with Trisquel? I am leaning toward that one because I like everything free and have had some experience with ubuntu

 

There are so many Linux distros it really comes down to your needs and preferences.
While Ubuntu is one of the most popular, Trisquel hasn't been updated in 2 years.
My vote goes to Linux Mint.

Have a look over here.
https://www.linux.com/news/best-linux-distros-2016
https://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major

 

LXLE Desktop http://www.lxle.net/
and
MX-16 https://mxlinux.org/
are my two current favorites.

Go here: https://distrowatch.com/
and check in the lower right column to see what is popular. Popular distros end up having more active user support forums and that's what you want if you are new to a distro.

 

Thanks all for the advice, I have decided to go with Linux Mint to get my feet wet with Linux.