You are mostly right. Its tricky to get into Linux.
Linux is not for running windows programs. Linux alternative of such programs suffice my need. although some can be installed using wine but its highly likely you will likely run into bug. Some apps such as adobe suite, office 365, etc won't work at all.
Those distro recommendation websites are garbage, don't trust any of them. There are "basically" three main flavours
Arch
Debian/Ubuntu
Redhat
Everything else is just based on them. Like pop os, Mint, Zorin are basically same under the hood. You can make any distro do whatever you want.