content: I think people confused privacy and security. They are two fundamentally different concepts. People give up privacy in exchange for "free" things often enough. They give up security because they are lazy. This wasn't some evil empires decision -- it was ours. They simply monetized people on our foolishness. People forget: If it's free -- you're not the consumer, you're the product. If it is, truly free, it will rarely ever be as good as anything that isn't free.  No one needs M$ or apple, but don't think that by getting mint you've solved anything.  You honestly barely need anything at all. You can get by with incredibly little in life. You don't need that Prius or that 4x4. You can get some 14k POS car that's still brand new but is the bottom of the bottom of the barrell. Or get used. You don't need Tylenol, you can deal with the pain. I mean once you invoke the need card, you don't need a lot in life.  But there's still no security because you refuse to run tor because that shit is slow and your facebook games don't work on it.  There is security. It's leagues beyond what we had nearly 20 years ago. Worms, for instance, are a thing of the past. That, by itself, should tell you much about security. Backdoors aren't nearly as common as they once were --or-- are hidden well enough they aren't well known.  Accept that your desktop os isn't the problem, your fascination with the kardashians and facebook is.  And no OS can fix that.  of course you want instant gratification and 0 learning curve and perfect security.  This is almost possible until you add in "perfect privacy" -- then the game is over. 5 minutes in they'll sign into Facebook or some social media.  fuck I hate troubleshooting first time linux switchers.  Careful now, in /v/technology Mint Linux is the answer to all their prayers and even hinting at it not being a perfect replacement for Windows may be cause for burning you at the stake as a heretic. "Try dual booting" -- and eventually people get tired of having to boot back into Windows so they never boot back into Linux because I'm not going to your house to fix your goddamn problems every time because you can't articulate what the fuck is going on and you need something now. Fuck that noise. Stay with Windows and I save me my trouble.  But there's still no security because you refuse to run tor because that shit is slow and your facebook games don't work on it.  TOR in and of itself will grant you neither security nor privacy alone. It's merely a layer -- a layer that can be figure out without further precautions being taken. I mean let's look at it like this: How many people are on Voat or Reddit? How many of these comments, with a fair amount of investigation, could lead to who they are? But people delude themselves into thinking an OS switch will mean something at all. It won't. They aren't hurting Microsoft, Apple, or Google. Not in any measureable amount at least.