Here's why you need good security in Windows...

Maybe you recall a previous rant I did on here about Windows and spyware. Again, the above first image is a good example of how quickly it collects in Windows. These are tracking cookies, which may not be life-threatening, but they're a damned nuisance, and they can quickly clog up your system and slow it down, because they're using up resources that should be going to other stuff.

The second image shows a couple of unwanted programs piggybacked in here when I downloaded the "ImgBurn" disc-burning program. I like ImgBurn because it's simple, comes with a built-in prompting system, and it really works. Unfortunately, they are now in cahoots with a couple of questionable characters who are planting bloatware in your system as you take the ImgBurn. And before you say "Why didn't you watch for those optional boxes on the windows during the install process, and uncheck them?" - I watched, and I didn't see anything about Open Candy or Price Fountain, whatever those are. What they are is a pain in the ass, big time. If people are sneaking stuff into your system instead of being up-front about it, then they can't be all good, and you don't want whatever they're after in here, and it's an invasion of privacy which is becoming all too common these days. I'd rather pay for ImgBurn than have this problem. It's a good program, and worth having, whether free or not. It's been my favorite for burning discs for years now. I wish they would get a divorce from all that shit that comes along for the ride.

And it's for reasons like the above that more of us are taking a hard look at the alternatives to Windows, like Ubuntu, or Linux Mint, or PC-BSD, all of which are magnificent 'freebies', work like a charm, and look good doing it. I've tried all of them, so I'm not just passing along second-hand opinions here. I'm still using Ubuntu and Linux Mint in a dual-boot configuration on my other computer, and Linux Mint along with Windows 10 in dual-boot format on this one. There are only a couple of Windows-only programs that I don't want to live without, otherwise I could happily survive on these modern Unix derivatives. And if I were Mighty Microsoft, I'd be concerned about that. Windows comes with a lot more "baggage" than these others, and that "baggage" is turning us off.