Which device from these will be better for privacy usecase.

Hello, i have 2 questions:

  1. Does laptop Sony Vaio with Intel Pentium have Intel ME or something like that Indie?
  2. Which device will be best to operatem on for privacy and security tasks?
  • Older laptop with Intel Pentium and Windows 10 Home
  • Bit newer pc with IC i5-4570S and Windows 10 Educational
  • *Buy newest laptop (i9/ultra 9) with Windows 11 Pro/Edu

I know some people will tell to install Linux, but i can’t for some purpouses, i can try however with virtual machines. Thanks

Can you upgrade Windows 10 to 11 in the first two options? Because Microsoft will end support for Win 10 in a few days.

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WHICH PENTIUM?
Pentium from 1996 or 2021?

Is it this beast?

As for privacy, this will come down far more to how you setup the OS and what programs you choose, not the hardware.

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I would say Windows Home (as opposed to Pro or Edu) is worse for privacy than whether or not you have Intel ME. If you’re worried about the latter, I heard AMD’s equivalent (PSP) is more benign though I don’t seem to find a clear answer what its network capabilities are.

Sorry forgot to specify, in settings its named Intel Pentium CPU 987 1.5 GHz, i guess nawet one

I believe any Intel processors made after 2008 includes Intel ME or CSME, so I’d assume it does. However, it seems that avoiding ME/CSME (either by disabling/neutering it or by using a super old processor) would do more harm than good.

As for hardware, newer is generally going to be better since they’ll be supported by updates for longer and may include new security features. Old hardware can be especially undesirable if it is no longer receiving security updates.

As for your OS, Windows 10 is nearly about to run out of free security updates. There are ways to continue receiving updates but as far as I can tell, they all involve greater invasions of privacy such as being signed into a Microsoft account. Additionally, I don’t think Windows 10 Home supports BitLocker which is necessary for full-disk encryption.

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