rambling about alt programs/apps even tho idk how any of this works (help possibly??)

HI AGAIN SO ive been thinking abt this for a long time right.. like.. i wanna become one of those ppl who like. goes out of their way to get the best prgrams, apps, elecronics, etc possible.. or at least the ones i find most appealing and safe to me x3 i started with getting a new daily driver, a titan pocket (runs android), cus i think qwerty phones are awesome hehe and i love it!! using a phys keyboard on a phone for the first time is a strange transition but!! it aint a bad one at all!!!

but lately ive been interested in other things.. rn i have a windows laptop and ive been thinking abt trying linux.. and getting more into programming/code.. even tho to me that shit seems overwhelming and like. a LOT to approach BUT IT LOOKS SO COOL TO ME and ik with the way i do things, learning more abt it would rlly help me and improve my life so much.. im thinking abt applying linux to my laptop but??? idk how to do that shit..... ill look into tutorials and articles and see what i can do ig.. BUT! if anyone knows any way i can like. get into linux or anything lmk??? idk if i can simply just. APPLY linux to my laptop like that but if i can id rlly like to.. currently looking into gentoo :P

other things relatedto this.. lemme see uhhh OH im looking into using other browsers.. rn i use a lot of google things, including chrome as my main browser, but.. im trying to transition to either firefox or smth else cus like. fuck google LOL i wanna get away from using google products, much like how i like avoiding apple, amazon, and other. like. big companies LOL I HATE THEM ALL and id much rather support lesser known, safer, more personable, etc things..... which is mainly why ive been thinking abt using linux instead of windows in the first place LOL ik my main issue has been combatibility stuff.. like what if this program i use a lot isnt linux compatible?... but i imagine most programs i use have linux options so!! thatd be rlly nice hehe i just need to do research on that........

tldr: windows laptop user here, i wanna try linux (gentoo), anyone have advice maybe? do i need a new laptop (if so, any budget options?) or can i install it on my current laptop? ANY AND ALL HELP APPRECIATED!!!!!!!!!