Honestly, I just kept some distros on a USB disk with Ventoy (amazing software for booting ISOs from USB) on it and booted them up repeatedly until I felt comfortable and found my favourite.
I really don't think waffling around on Windows trying open source alternatives is the answer. Look up what the alternatives are, then boot up a live image and download them. Try them. Then switch if you like it.
This is coming from someone who used Windows from 1999 until 2023 and planned a transition to Linux over time (about a month) using a spreadsheet. It really doesn't have to be complicated or difficult; I'm not a programmer or anything, I'm just a former Windows power user.