Has this happened to you

[gwrench]

I disagree about needing to be tech savvy to use linux. There are differences and things to learn, but that is true of every new version of Windows too.

1. I suggest you get yourself a flash drive of 4 gigs or larger that you can dedicate for now.
2. Research a bit for linux distro's to try. Mint and Ubuntu are good options. Download your choice of "image".
3. Download a program that will install the "image" on the flash drive. Rufus and unetbootin are free and work well. They are tiny downloads.
4. Use rufus or unetbootin to install the image on the flash drive. (this will delete any data already there). You can't just copy it to the flash drive, it needs to be in a form the computer will understand to boot with.
5. You may need to do some research on how to start your computer using the flash drive rather than your hard drive. For many Dell's you press F12 as it's starting to get a menu where you can pick what drive to use.
6. When your computer starts you will be running a live version of linux! You can try the programs, surf the net (once you put in wireless info etc). You have the option to install in the menu or desktop but there's no obligation. If you don't like it, restart and go back to windows or download another distro to try. In a live version you can't install programs but once installed there are thousands of free programs you can try. You actually have to do some looking to find something that costs $.

Using an older or spare computer for practice is a good idea. If you choose to install you will wipe the hard drive so all data will be lost. Back up your files before doing computer work!

[farmbif]

I'd heard of brave its supposed to be safe and versatile and won't allow tracking.
linux has been around for like forever, open sourced, ive heard people say it was created by geeks and hackers for geeks and hackers. it started as kind of like an anti Microsoft option, for folks who have no interest in big brother looking over your shoulder and being a slave to their system. you would think hackers don't want to get hacked. I think many years ago bill gates tried to shut it down some how.
but I'm no expert, just what ive heard, second hand scuttlebutt

[BunkTheory]

1. TOR is NOT untraceable. It is like the other VPN.... a company website does the searches for you... you just get the data popping up. It is traceable.
You HAVE to consider them nothing more then the voice to text service translators that translate phone calls into text for the hearing impaired. you have a TRANSLATOR listening in on the phone line to do the translating.

2. There is NO way to undo auto updates with Windows 10. Its IMPOSSIBLE. EVEN with a metered connection set up. The metered connnection setup actually used more data bandwidth to do the updates.

3. Its going to screw people over, the new next version of Windows. Its actually going to NEGATE the usage of many computers more then 3 years old based on hardware requirements. That little security chip, last october was priced at 1100$ ON SALE. And then you need a mother board and processor that can actually use those chips.. Thats at minimum 200$ on the mother board..

[David2011]

Google knows more about you than MicroShaft and the govt. Ditch bill gate$ nightmare and switch to Linux! Look for Just Use Linux. Don’t use chrome or google! Duck duck go doesn’t track anything.

Agreed. Google is unavoidable if you use the internet because so many websites embed Google. Still, I avoid using them directly and also use Duck duck go.

Yes. Replacing the battery is the first thing I did. The mouse worked for a short time and then went belly up again, so I replaced the mouse.

In almost 25 years in corporate IT, I found wireless mice and keyboards to almost always fail when they were about 2 years old. Some lasted longer but I prefer wired devices for both.

As other folks have mentioned, don't allow updates. It's just more spyware.

With Windows 10 the only way to avoid updates is to never turn the computer on.

Linux is for tech savvy people ,preferable with a diploma /degree in IT.......IMHO,if you have to ask about Linux ,forget it.

Most people have an old computer available. Use Linux on the old one before committing changes to a newer computer. Linux requires far less hard drive and RAM than Windows and will run well on older machines. It isn't all that hard but it is different.

Pardon my ignorance, but how do I switch to Linux? Is it a download? Do I need to wipe my hard drive?
I hate Windows 10, but not tech savvy and don't want to get in over my head.

There was a detailed answer above. You can actually run Linux from a CD/DVD/flash drive without doing anything to the existing hard drive but for safety's sake it's safer to run Linux on something other than your primary computer until you learn how to back up your data onto an external hard drive. In my professional opinion, flash/thumb drives are not good for backup. I've seen lots of data loss from people trusting them. For that matter, ALL drives are built "terminal" so data is best kept on at least two hard drives at all times.

[kootne]

Windows is the ULTIMATE virus.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

Windows wiped my hard drive clean, including all my pictures. I just found I can no longer post pictures. I have a very strong urge to throw the computer out the back door and drive my car over it.