I tried ZorinOS, thinking it would be a nice transition from Windows to Linux, but it’s so nice i think i’ll stick with it for a while. Classic Windows-like recommendation is Linux Mint, and if i’m not mistaken both are ubuntu-based, so you would take advantage of that knowledge
To use .dll VSTs on Linux with Reaper, i use yabridge. If i understood correctly it mixes the use of the linux .so VST format and Wine to trick the VSTs into thinking they run on Windows. So you can run Reaper outside of Wine, and automatically have access to Windows VSTs (once you setup yabridge properly).
It has some huge limitations (most Waves plugins are a big no, getting Kontakt to work seems to involve black magic way beyond my understanding, etc) but i got some plugins to work very well!
On the safety of Wine, i’m not sure at all. From what i understand of this forum, Wine itself is not really dangerous, but it does not block applications from communicating with Linux filesystem and environment so it’s not 100% safe. However you are slightly protected by the niche aspect of Linux, which makes it unlilely for attackers to take time to code a virus that handles Linux way of working. And from my small experience with hacked VSTs on Windows, most werent a threat, especially when i took them from the same hacking team
Can confirm, used it for Lethal Company, worked like a charm