Needs are not that simple. This is the type of reasoning a child would use, when the world is black and white and the possibility of other factors does not exist.
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Looks like some users took my observations personally…
Instead of responding with a personal attack wrapped into a thought-terminating cliché, why not provide an actual counterargument?
What is there to respond to?
It is pretty clear you have a very binary mindset where anyone who uses Windows does not care about privacy. This is not a personal attack, the logic you are using is very similar to how a child would consider this issue.
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I empathize with your perspective. There are definitely factors that prevent someone from deleting Windows and installing Linux. I am curious what is a use case that prevent them from at least dual booting? The only thing that comes to mind is a work computer but AFAICS that wouldn’t allow for most privacy hacks regardless.
Millions of today’s Linux users are just yesterday’s Windows users who experienced the same issues but still managed to make the jump, no? If I’m off base, please let me know of a unique setup that former Windows users wouldn’t appreciate?
If someone on the forum continued to use the same simple password for every account, they clearly care more about consistency more than privacy and are likely to get pushback because the alternative is obvious. The same applies for things like continuing to use Google Search, stock Chrome and clearly Windows at this point. There are mainstream articles from 10 years ago calling out Windows’ privacy issues and so it seems counter-intuitive hearing from privacy-conscious individuals who seemingly have made no attempt to lessen their dependence on Microsoft by dual-booting Linux
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For the average user I think its a technical issue. Dual booting not common, most people are going to have to try and learn how to do that. Depending on how technical that person is, it could range from easy to difficult.
I would point out that there is a large set of people who use their work computer as their personal computer and have no need to own a separate device.
Sure but there are hundreds of millions more who grew up using Windows and its fair to consider the cost / benefit of switching and learning a whole new OS. Especially when we understand that not everyone threat model requires the most private OS.
It is pretty clear you merely skimmed through my original comment…
To reiterate what I said: people who really care about their privacy wouldn’t use a proprietary OS as their main one in this day and age (with extra emphasis for those who haven’t had enough coffee recently).
This is a statement of privilege that assumes everyone has multiple devices at their disposal.
- Dual Booting is not common and I did have to learn how to do it as a former Windows user.
- Most (all?) privacy solutions comes from learning how to be technical though. Windows users who care about privacy are adjusting their registries, following hardening tutorials from Github/Privacy Guides and learning new things, no? That is basically the Linux experience.
What does this have to do with privacy guides then? They cannot implement most of the privacy requirements as their computer is externally managed
I think this is the key point. There are people that value convenience more than privacy and that’s OK, just maybe don’t complain about it on a forum for those that values privacy.
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Moving the goalposts already? If both dual-booting and having multiple devices are out of the question, then what’s the point of this privacy theatre?
Complaining about lack of privacy on Windows 11 is a rather… questionable pastime. And those who are waiting for Linux (etc.) to become “Windows but private” are in for a disappointment.
No. How big do you think PG is? It is much more common for someone to care about privacy and have no clue what to do or be tricked by the tons of other less reputable privacy sites.
Nothing. This whole side conversation was based on @Hasshu assuming people who use Windows do not care about privacy. I disagree and pointed out there are other factors.
Yes but it does not mean they do not care. Thats the point.
You have missed the point. It is not binary. People do not just choose convenience over privacy most of the time. You are throwing out any possible reason to use Windows as a convenience and creating a false dichotomy where you either choose to not use Windows are you care more about convenience then privacy.
I am sorry, I didn’t realize having above average technical knowledge and being able to afford multiple devices was the default goalpost. I forgot to ask you what the rules of this discussion were beforehand.
Its not moving the goalpost to point out your disregarding tons of people who can’t afford a 2nd PC or do not feel comfortable learning how to dual boot (or other uncommon computer tasks) and may not even need to depending on their threat model.
For me it’s a workflow issue.
The hardware and software I rely upon for my work (self-employed) runs only on Windows or MacOS. Additionally, the hardware and software I rely upon for my hobbies and personal enrichment activities run only on Windows or MacOS.
So between all of those tasks it’s not really simple to know when and where to draw the line, save and close all of my work, and boot into a different operating system to … send an email? Browse the internet? Nevermind that I often have to do both of these things as part of the things I’m working on. I can’t keep rebooting and switching OSes all day and expect to get anything done.
I did spin up a Fedora VM for certain hyper sensitive tasks but beyond that I’m stuck with either Windows or MacOS until Linux starts fully, reliably supporting the hardware and software I rely upon.
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For the record here I do care about privacy. But I also care about gaming and until gaming on Linux is more mainstream I’ll be sticking with Windows. Who’s to say because I like to game that I don’t care about my privacy too?
it’s not one or the other. At least in my world view. It’s okay to take a breath every once in a while… 
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Dual booting is sometimes risky as it can lead to technical issues, either when done incorrectly or when Windows accidentally screws over Linux dual boot users.
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Having to switch between Linux and Windows is so inconvenient that most people end up staying on Windows most of the time since it allows them to do everything, which defeats the purpose of dual booting in the first place.
It’s an option, just not a realistic one for most people.
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I am kind of in the same boat. I would love to switch to Linux, and have tried multiple times. The fact is every time I do, I seemingly spend hours troubleshooting software that “just works” on Windows.
If I had all the time in the world I might be ok with that but I am an adult, with a career, and family. I can’t afford the time to do all that. While I don’t like the idea of trading privacy for convenience, sometimes its not a choice.
Makes sense to me. It does take some time to get used to. I keep my PC on Windows but I saw no harm in switching my 4 year old laptop over to Ubuntu Linux. I don’t game on it and it’s only for sending emails and surfing the web and online shopping.
I found this to be the best approach for me since it didn’t take anything away from me (gaming). The OS is simple to use. And I can still do everything I use to in it. If you’ve got an older laptop lying around, it’s worth a try. And the install process is so easy.
Only downside is it confused my wife who wanted my head for changing all the tech in the house. She got used to it thought after I sat down and showed her how to browse for files and such. 
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You’ve misinterpreted my original comment (whether unintentionally or deliberately, I do not know), and decided to double down instead of acknowledging that. Again, I’d suggest some coffee.
Alas, but privacy tends to be neither easy, nor cheap. You can care about privacy all you want, but merely lamenting how, say, Linux can’t just be a “private Windows” isn’t going to make your life any more private – that’s the thing.
To all others: preferring convenience over privacy is totally understandable; what isn’t understandable, though, is expecting privacy without effort – especially on a site called “Privacy Guides”.
lol ok ill bite, how should I interpret your original comment then? re-explain it to me. Based on the reactions to that comment, I don’t think I am the only one “misinterpreting” here.
From what I can tell all your comments boil down to is if you daily drive Windows, regardless of context, you are either to lazy or poor to care about privacy.