[Discuss] best distro for Father's Day?

[Drew Fustini]

My dad, a home Windows user, told me he was going to have pay $80 to
renew Symantec anti-virus.  This gave me the idea that I should
finally get around to migrating him to Linux!  Especially since he
complains that his Windows PC keeps getting slower and slower.

I ordered this refurb Acer mini PC with Intel Atom quad-core 2.41GHz,
4GB RAM & 1TB HDD:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TUJUTY4?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00

I am thinking of installing the latest Ubuntu (15.04).  Personally, I
run Debian on everything, but I figure Ubuntu would be easier for a
Windows convert.

1) Any other distro that folks would for a Linux newbie?

2) What's the best way to convert the Acer's pre-installed Windows 8.1
into a VM before install Linux?


thanks!
drew