Keep it simple and ignore the techie blather (Score 1)

As a lifelong Windows user (and professional designer in the higher education tech support world), my advice is to relax and ignore all the Linux/virtualization/dual boot blather. They're all correct to one degree or another (many are spot on) but unless your son is or plans to be a hardcore geek none of it is useful for you. Lets' talk operating systems first. Despite a well-earned but obsolete reputation for instability, Windows is the preferred OS for gaming and many other pursuits. Windows 10 has a robust firewall, and Windows Defender is excellent virus protection and security. Both are on by default with new software. Defender is so good that it is our recommended solution, so don't pay extra for a third party app. Assuming you purchase a new machine with preloaded software, he will have no problem setting it up and learning the basics if he follows the prompts and takes the tutorials. The documentation is pretty good, some is excellent, and can be consumed in small bites. This is a pretty good round up of advice: https://www.windowscentral.com... Many of our students (we provide tech support to more than 20,000 undergrad and grad students) successfully use a program like Boot Camp to run Windows on their Mac. Generally, though, it's not a serious option for our gamers, whose concern is performance. Our top-end gamersâ(TM) go-to machine is some sort of Windows 10 desktop, with maxed CPU, double clocked, hela RAM, mega cooling (often liquid), large, fast monitor, wired internet connection. I doubt there are any laptops at any price that can perform as well as even a modestly equipped desktop. If a laptop is your preferred route, a cooling stand is an inexpensive and worthwhile addition. There's a good variety of very capable machines at much less than you'd pay for a similarly equipped Mac. The newer high-end MS Surface laptops get good reviews from our students, and so do the Asus and Alienware boxes. Canned air (I.e, DustOff) and a PC cleaning tool (OXO makes a great one) for dust removal are highly recommended). Hope that helps.