I’d install Ubuntu, as its easier than windows to install. If you need windows, and when you actually find some cheap copies, you can run windows inside of Ubuntu, in a program called Virtualbox, again, easy to setup and get running. You will be surprised how easy Ubuntu is to setup and get you online.
I am an IT professional, mostly, and have been playing the game for decades, and its my opinion that Ubuntu is the easiest OS to setup for people who don’t know much about computers.
I hope I can figure it out. I have the ISO on USB card, I don’t know how I can get a blank hard drive to read it though.