Downsides to Linux

^ This. There are a ton of good ways to give a distro a spin these days with little or no impact on your OS of choice. With Live media, virtual machines, etc., one can give a thorough review without committing. Some of us, myself included, have several different OSes on the same box; via dual boot, VM, or both.

 

The main disadvantage of Linux is that there isn't as much software available for it as there is for Windows. There are some free programs that you can use, but many Windows programs won't work on it. You could try installing Windows software using WINE, but not all programs are compatible.

Another disadvantage is that you'll have to learn command line inputs, so you can't just rely on point-and-click, like Windows.

 

It has become much easier it install programs and if you download a Deb file your software center will install it for you. Linux has become much easier to use by everyone recently, it also depends on the distro that you choose but most common distros are as easy to use as windows is.