I regret my installation of Linux Mint. How should I go about trying again?

[Almirage]

Finding out that my laptop lacks wireless and proper graphics functionality for Linux Mint has me abandoning Linux on it and running back to Windows.

That said, there's one more machine I'd have a reason to install Linux for, and this time I want to see whether it would run it properly before I actually make the move. Am I able to test how everything on Linux works simply running the operating system from the USB pre-installation? Such as wireless internet, software installation, and playing video with the necessary codecs to run it.

In the case it does not run properly, should I consider running an older Linux distribution? I read in another topic here that some users have had trouble adjusting to Linux Mint 19, notably in getting the suspend function working properly for them, but it was enough of a problem for someone to point out that users should wait a few months of further development before trying it out. Additionally, at some point I had to read someone else suggest straight up downgrading the kernel for the sole purpose of getting a program to install.

This time, the distribution I intend to try out is the Xfce edition, due to how it advertises itself as being the simplest and most stable, and also more importantly because I read elsewhere that it rarely ever updates because it is more or less a completed project. However, I have difficulties trying to find out what is actually left behind in terms of features between the three editions. If I were to install the programs I intend to use, such as a media player and an internet browser on Xfce, would the program itself run any differently from how it does on Cinnamon or MATE?

[WharfRat]

Could you try this before reinstalling windows.

[CoffeeFiend]

Do you know what brand wireless adapter is in your laptop? I have two HP Pavilion laptops, both of which have Realtek wireless adapters. I found out when I was running Ubuntu that Realtek doesn't support drivers for Linux (at least Debian-based distros) and neither the Ubuntu nor the Mint loads I have done was able to use the onboard NIC. My work around was to take the wireless dongle from my Raspberry Pi and plug it in. Discovers and connects to wireless network immediately.
Not sure what to tell you about the graphics, though.