By basic they mean boring. Its programs tend to be slightly older but more stable with new releases coming during patches and major version changes. However, that also prevents programs being broken by someone pushing an update that isn't done cooking.

I use mine for gaming, programming, art, basic internet usage and have had zero issues so far. The software center, used for getting new programs, is extremely easy to use and snappy. The default programs are all tried and tested, and the cinnamon desktop is very windows like.

I will say I have been using linux for a few years now and only have amd hardware when it comes to my cpu/gpu. Not sure if Nvidia plays quite as well with it but mint is a great place to start for most folks. If not the best part of linux is that you have plenty of other easy options you can try and nearly all totally free!