I think my first experience with linux, actually, was running Puppy on my mom’s old computer from a live usb. I never really ended up doing much, but it was fun.

Not likely you’ll get anything adobe or microsoft running at all well. If those two things are absolutely essential, then maybe your friend should stick to windows. If alternatives are okay, OnlyOffice has very good ms office compatibility. On the adobe side… There’s really nothing with the same kind of feature set.

Mint is always a good bet. Fedora is great, but some things about it aren’t as new user friendly. In also hear good things about Pop!_OS.

Thanks for the news.