I just got my new iMac today. Whoa! I know it's a lot of money but I don't have enough patience to constantly be fooling around with any brand Windows Equipment.

You deserve a Mac. Do it. You will never be sorry. Every once in a while you hit two buttons to update it and that's that. The last iMac lasted 9 plus years. I could run NASA with this new one. Imagine people who speak English if you need a pointer or technical assistance and they answer the phone in a flash. Customer service at its finest.

We did have a Chromebook that a poster named tomwed encouraged me to buy some years back. Other than being small it was trouble-free but alas it was glommed by some Fast Fingered Freddie when we moved down here. It happened on the N.J. side we think. It was also very inexpensive.

Yeah, I get all that. I've been using personal computers since the early 80's (IBM PC-XT...slooow). I have a couple of Linux live drives (usb/cd). I know how they work, and how you can either run them from the drive or choose to install from the drive to your PC, etc. And it's handy that it's an OS (kernel) that understands the NTFS file system that Windows uses.

That said, the "without installing it" is kind of a distinction without a difference to me. You're dealing with a Linux bootable USB or CD that has files that load into RAM. The Windows-on-a-stick loads into RAM from USB/CD, too. You're not "installing" Windows to your computer, in other words. It's just loading its required files from the USB (or SSD) drive and running from there, just like the Linux drive.

As far as "FREE" goes, you don't need to buy a license for Windows 10. In other words, it will run just fine without being activated. The limitations (which Microsoft can always change, of course) is that you can't personalize it, like change the desktop theme, etc. Note: I'm not encouraging people to run Windows without activating it. What I am saying is that if you just needed some kind of emergency boot device, this would work, and wouldn't require activation.

I am not anti-Linux at all. What I am "anti", though, is this notion that somehow Windows PCs are inherently unstable, or have some other kind of systemic nefarious malady associated with them. That's just silly. As I've mentioned, I've been using personal computers for many years now, including those with Linux, macOS (pre-OS X "classic" and current OS X), and the different varieties of Windows. And I've been through some nightmare Windows issues from yesteryear. But I can honestly say that I just don't have issues with Windows 10.

Yeah, I know that Microsoft has this nagging habit of shooting themselves in the foot when they do update releases... e.g. fix something while simultaneously breaking something new. But I haven't run into that. My 91-year-old Dad uses his Windows 10 PC. All I need to do is remind him how to do stuff that he hasn't done in a while, but he doesn't have issues with his computer or operating system, itself.

And my experiences with macOS - new and old - haven't been without issues, either. I've had my fair share of spinning beach balls-of-death or other freezes that require hard restarts. I've had Linux distros lock up my laptop, as well. The point is, there's no "perfect" OS/kernel. But there is a "perfect storm" of people claiming there's some kind of ubiquitous calamity with Windows PCs. That's just not accurate.

I completely agree with all that you have said, I also have a few excellent Win 10 PCs. Different strokes for different folks. I don't believe I have ever criticized Win PCs here on TOTV, besides some security or privacy issues that embody modern OS's, that mostly can be adjusted. They work quite well while they work as with any OS. Personal Computing support has provided me with a very nice income over the years. (I began in the 70's with CP/M Z80 and 8086's) I am only offering an alternative that anyone can easily try. Many people here are still running Vista, Win 7 or 8 and might be interested in other options. Based upon their needs, I have successfully converted them to a Chromebook, or Win 10, which was the original poster's query.