I recommend you buy a good anti virus like Norton or Kaspersky. IMO linux is an overkill if you haven't used it before. It's a bit more secure but you sacrifice some of the looks of windows and its compatibility with different programs and games. I also find windows much easier to use, more user-friendly.
Yes you will be 100% compatible with all the latest viruses and malware in the world if you continue using windows crap 
YOu obviously have no idea what you are talking about and I doubt' you ever used any linux OS longer than five minutes.
Linux is NOT an overkill and it can look and work even better than gates spyware in almost every aspect including gaming, but OP doesn't really need beautiful gaming machine.
I'm actually liking Linux, I like how minimalist it looks and as for app compatibilities, I think running windows on VM should do the trick, my PC should be able to handle it. I've got lots of learning to do though, recently, I've been spending my time talking privately to some forum members about it, they're quite helpful.
If you want stability with minimal number of apps installed I would suggest Debian.Linux for general use that has one of the best safety and security is probably Fedora.
If you want Linux that looks very similar like windows, than check out ZorinOS, or Mint.