I just acquired a new PC, and it hasn’t been turned on yet. I would love some advice and tips on what to do before I get started with it to protect my privacy.

I’m a privacy-conscious person, but not dogmatic about it. And honestly, this is the first desktop PC I’ve had since Windows XP was a thing. So it goes without saying, I’m very out-of-the-loop when it comes to Windows. I’m not opposed to putting a Linux distro on it, as long as it’s very easy for a beginner to learn on.

Really tho, I’d like to know if there’s anything I should or shouldn’t do as I’m booting the comp up for it’s first time. Im grateful for any and all advice here. Thanks!!

Edit: thanks for all the responses so far! I figured it’d probably help to list my use cases for the PC. It’ll mostly be used for gaming, music production & sound design, collecting music and movies (which will likely involve me regaining my old sea legs, hoisting the black flag, and sailing the high seas). At some point in the future, I wouldn’t mind learning how to host a media server for friends and family to access, but I got lots to learn before I dip my toes into that. My privacy concerns are pretty general - I’d like to prevent corporate data mining mostly, but since I may be screaming “yo ho ho” soon too, I’d like to be protected in those regards as well

  • Hellfire103English
    7•8 months ago

    Well, for all of the above, I’d personally recommend using Linux Mint to get started. I’ve always found that it’s too much work to debloat Windows, and it’s considerably less secure than Linux (normally).

    Most Steam games run on Linux, but there are a few that do not. Music production could also be a bugbear, as a lot of popular software does not run. You could always try using WineHQ to run the Windows versions, however, or try a compatible alternative.

    If you simply must run Windows, you have two options. Dual-booting is a good idea, as this lets you select whether you want to boot Windows or Linux when you turn on the computer. Another option is using a virtual machine; this would allow you to run Windows inside Linux. For this, I’d recommend VirtualBox to start with.