RE: [FreeWrite] Thinking About Upgrading the Laptop but...

The electricity goes out frequently in my country, (well, not anymore, but I'm still anxious,) so I'm worried about that.

Really I want a Linux desktop pc, but I am afraid of the learning curve or running into scenarios where software simply won't run, or my laptop bak hard drives can't be read.

I recommend installing a lightweight Linux on a USB stick, learn how to boot from USB (if your device can do that, most devices that run Win7+ should be able to,) and learn Linux on it. Better than switching your main PC to Linux right away, and learning how to boot from USB will be really valuable skill to have.