I am going to assume you know what Microsoft is, but if you dont, Microsoft is a corporation worth billions of dollars founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. They are most known for their operating system, Microsoft Windows. They are also known for their line of Xbox gaming consoles and surface portable computers. Microsoft has made countless projects. They have also killed a lot of projects too.
For the uninformed, Microsoft Windows is an operating system (OS) installed on most desktops and laptops. It is the most common OS in the world, with around 70.54% of total operating system market share (as of 1/3/25). It is so common that their logo is printed on almost every modern keyboard and we often use the term "Windows key" to refer to it. Most hardware works out of the box with Windows like NVIDIA and Razer products. Most software is written for Windows in mind making software real easy to find.
That's about where the good things end.
A Windows 11 licence key can set you back by around $130 if you do not upgrade from Windows 10 or pirate. This is giving money to a business that aims to put spyware on everyones computer.
For an operating system you're paying to use, you're not getting much freedom out of it. In order to customize your computer or use basic features, you must purchase a key. Windows has a history of being very anti-competitive. At one point, when you searched "Google Chrome" or "Firefox" on Bing, Microsoft's search engine, it would display an advertisment for Microsoft Edge encouraging you to not download said browser. The installer for the OS contains ads for Microsoft products like Microsoft 365 and PC Game Pass. The entire OS is riddled with advertisements for Microsoft products. In order to install Windows 11, you require a Microsoft account and an internet connection. You also need a special TPM module to even use the OS. A TPM module is quite literally physical DRM. Windows also installs random software when making system updates. Sometimes, all forced updates do is install random unnecessary applications.
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. Every letter including the period in that sentence is a different link. I would have made the sentence longer, but it took a long time to make even a seven word sentence. You can read the summaries of all of these links and more here.
It all boils down to this:
Privacy with Microsoft Windows is horrible. The operating system itself is spyware. No matter what settings you enable or disable, when you are using Windows, your data is being sent to Microsoft and sold.
If you think you have nothing to hide, you are wrong.
Edward Snowden remarked "Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say."
You probably know what I'm about to say... GNU/Linux is the best for price, freedom, and privacy. And that's because it's usually true. Most GNU/Linux operating systems are both free of charge and free as in freedom. Free software (software that is free as in freedom, not as in price) is inherently spyware-free because you are able to view the source code and audit it yourself.
Because MacOS is just as bad if not worse than Microsoft because of their extremely locked down ecosystem, spyware (yes, Apple straight up lies in their advertising), and the requirement that you own Apple hardware to use their operating system. Apple hardware is extremely overpriced and you can get a better computer than their most expensive Mac Pro model for thousands cheaper. No, I'm not kidding:
Note: Most people do not need a PC like this.
Prices are rounded up. The final price does not include the case or any other components. Prices are obtained from Newegg, Amazon and the companies websites
+ The added bonus of being able to install a GNU/Linux operating system on it.
Prices are obtained from apple.com. This price does not include Pre-Installed software, case modifications, peripherals or tax. This price has not been rounded up.
+ The added bonus of it being hard to install your own operating system on it
Also, the fact that MacOS is mostly proprietary should be reason enough to not use it.
If you want to buy laptops, Framework Laptops aren't cheap, however you can customize the hardware to your needs.