[[Is it relatively ewasy to make it dueal boot with mint (and is mint still the go-to for novices)?]]
Yes- very easy- the ‘hardest part’ is creating a partition, but once it’s created, installing linux is as simple as making a disk of linux, popping it in, and clicking buttons, just liek you would to install windows- nearly everything is automatic-
Creating a partition isn’t too difficult- you’ll have to learn how to do it but it’s not hard-
#45 get the free MiniTool Partition Wizard
Easy to create a partition.
Get the free Oracle VM VirtualBox and install Windows 10 in that while running Linux Mint
How to install in Linux Mint
https://www.itzgeek.com/how-tos/linux/linux-mint-how-tos/install-virtualbox-4-3-on-linux-mint-17.html