I am not sure I can agree with you. Had Win machines all the way back to Win 3.1 on a 286. Did start with Linux for some things maybe 10 years ago. The malware and updates are what proved to be a bridge too far. Don't run on admin accounts nor did I let relatives do that. Malware was a constant problem. Yes some of my friends and relatives did foolish things, but I even picked up some a handful of times. I also don't know if I would have stuck with Windows as long as I did without Classic Shell being available. Around two years ago I had migrated all relatives and most friends to either Linux or Chrome. Or they had migrated themselves to Ipads.
I don't know what to say other than I have 5 Windows based machines (VDI Win8.1 , Win8.1 HTCP, Win10 Stereo PC, Win10 Workstation that's my Hypervisor, Win10 File server). My wife has an MS Surface Tablet. Stretching back 10 years (with Windows 7) I've yet to have any virus, malware, or other infestation.
And it's not like I'm garden walling either: Managed DNS, accounts of least privileges, Windows Defender. I use ad-block and no-script in the browser. I have updates set to simply download on My Workstation and I kick off the install when convenient for me . On the other machines I let MS manage it.
Bottom line, and I don't have a problem saying this: Anyone that claims malware is a 'constant problem' I can guarantee you that you are the constant problem and I've proven it time and again when I go and trouble shoot.
Recently it was just the stupid updates. If I ran my Win machine everyday it isn't quite so terrible of course. In recent years my desktop and a laptop run Linux. I only kept a Windows machine because of recording interfaces and a couple other items were Windows/Mac only. The Win box didn't get used every day or even every week. It always had to update. Yes, there are some ways to work around it, but too often when I turn that machine on it decided some update was more important than anything I might want to do with my hardware. This was even more bothersome as my location has slow internet access.
I use Pro editions of Windows and use the local machine policy to manage the machine behavior. I'm well versed with Arch and Ubuntu. As a matter of fact we just wrote an access control server for the Pi 3 with LAMP and also have an Asus Tinkerbox on the bench to see how much quicker it is (running Debian).
So the final straw was a few weeks ago, I planned on having a couple singers over to try some different microphones out. I pulled out my Windows 10 machine to turn it on and let it update to get everything out of the way. It had to restart twice and work its little self for quite awhile. Finally I checked and there were no more updates, everything was working. I turn it on to use the next afternoon, had disabled Wifi so it couldn't get any new updates. And this was one of those updates where it updates and shuts down, but it also has to finish the updates upon restarting. So we wait for some 20 minutes for it to work well enough for me to use my machine.
I'll tell you what I tell my customers: If you are running this for production environments don't use Home Editions. Get Pro at the very least. If you get Ultimate or Enterprise you can even utilize AppLocker and gardenwall your Windows box in addition to controlling how updates are handled. It's all in there for 100% control of your compute environment.
So yeah, I could get more involved to fix some of this. Why should I? None of my other devices treat me this way. Not my Android phones or tablet, not my Linux machines, not even a Chromebook I keep around. Why should I wrestle with my OS for my needs? We are way, way too far along for such things to be necessary. So I decided that day to bite the bullet, swallow my pride, and try a Macbook. I purchased a Macbook Pro second hand. It costs way too much for the hardware, but it does work. Even the High Sierra update update and the security faux paux were very Windows like. Yet it wasn't nearly as aggravating as a Win machine. So I can use that for items that are proprietary and need either Windows or Mac.
Bottom line is those platforms, for me, have some major shortcomings. I really needed bullet proof way to virtualize my desktop and make it available around the globe, locked down, and all I need travel with is nice sub $400 laptop. If it's stolen none of my critical and financial data went with it.
Now when I was working everything was Windows there, and I was one of the people who would be called to fix things when they went wrong. In hindsight, once I retired I should have quickly migrated away from Windows and told friends and relatives that like the cleaning lady I don't do Windows. I still think the Mac side is obscenely priced considering the hardware. I finally had enough of the little nagging issues that mean you are always adapting to the OS and messing with it rather than just using it. Windows has these problems which aren't all that much different than it was 20 years ago. I think it is a case of me being a slow learner.
Some will pay 300% price premium, others will figure out other ways. Windows Pro edition seems to have done the trick for me. I don't get nagged, I'm not surprised by updates nor inconvienced, I've yet to have a malware or virus infection. I simply have a file that I import via the local machine policy and my environment is all done.
To each their own but I do feel compelled to dispel your myths about Windows Environments. All your issues are user correctable. You could have even bought a Windows based PC and spent $200 on a tech to setup the machine the way you want. Create a system image of the configured machine and you still would have been hundreds, if not a $1000, ahead of the curve.
