First, sorry for the long post and billion questions (and hopefully it’s ok in this community? I saw a couple multiple-question posts without one in the title but I might have misunderstood the rule)

So, my PC is running W10 with ESU, and I’m very paranoid about… most things really, but the relevant one here is malware. I don’t just randomly download stuff from the internet, but I know you can get malware even without consciously doing that, and even though I have an AV (Bitdefender Free) I’m hesitant to just stay on W10 after the free ESU ends. But there’s no way in hell I’m switching to 11.

So, besides staying on regular W10, my main options would be Linux or W10 LTSC. And I have various questions regarding these three choices.

I consider myself relatively tech savvy compared to the average person, but definitely ignorant on the matter compared to the average Lemmy user. So it’s not exactly an ELI5, but definitely an ELI15 or something.

I also have access to a different, W11 PC that I could use as “testing environment”.

Option 1: Switching to Linux

Even regardless of security updates, Microsoft is getting on my nerves and I’ve been telling myself I need to switch to Linux or at least dual-boot for a while, but there’s various things making me question it:

(For most purposes, “Linux” here refers to Mint since that’s usually the one I see recommended for beginners, but if other distros work better for certain aspects I’d appreciate to know)

1a - Is there no file system that works perfectly on both Linux and Windows? I could technically dual-boot using two different drives, but what if I need to access/move files between two drives with different file systems? Which issues would I face if, say, one is NTFS and the other is ext4? I think all of my drives are currently in NTFS, would I have to reformat everything to safely access them from Linux without worrying about data/metadata loss?

1b - I read that to open an .exe on Linux I would have to do it through WINE, and that there’s a database to check compatibility of individual programs with it, but are the worst compatibility issues just “the program doesn’t open”, or can a compatibility issue result in data loss/corruption too?

1c - I’m currently using Firefox on Windows, is it possible to copy all my settings and data (browsing history included) from the Windows version to the Linux one?

1d - Other than specific .exe without WINE compatibility, are there any relatively common file types which can’t be opened with Linux that I should be aware of? (Mostly talking about picture/video/audio/text files, compressed archives or similar).

1e - What can I mess up by testing an USB live version? Are there any things I should be careful about? I’ve heard “changes aren’t saved”, but that’s referring only to OS configuration, right? And, going back to file systems, can I even access the data that’s on my NTFS drive from a live version or would I just be working with the stuff inside the USB?

1f - I read often that “you can’t get viruses on Linux”, but that’s mostly because they’re not developed specifically for it, so you might “get” them but they won’t work, right? If I dual boot, is there the chance that I get a malware while browsing with Linux and then it infects my pc when I boot Windows (even without consciously opening unknown .exe files)?

1g - Which Pc components should I pay attention to because they/their drivers might not work on Linux? Is there a site/tool that can check if my current hardware would have any issues? (For example, I have a Nvidia graphics card and I think I read that might be a problem?)

Option 2: Windows 10 LTSC

Linux would be the ideal, but if I get too paranoid or can’t invest enough time in it to figure how it works before October, my second choice would be W10 LTSC, since from what I understood, that one has much more extended security updates. I do have my share of doubts about it too, though:

2a - I heard there’s various different versions of W10 LTSC (IoT or not, RTM, 2021, I think there’s even an Enterprise version that isn’t LTSC?), but what are the actual differences? Is one version objectively better than the others?

2b - I know LTSC is meant to be used in a “company environment”, but are there any downsides to it compared to the Home version? Does it have some hard limitations on what can I do with it? (For example, can I play every Steam game currently supported by regular W10 on it?)

2c - The main place where I’m finding LTSC information is Massgrave, is the procedure to keep files on their page safe/advised or should I backup and format just in case? And after doing that, can I activate it with a Key bought from a third-party site? (I heard their Activation Script isn’t 100% perfect, and keys are not that expensive anyway)

Option 3: Regular Windows 10

If both Linux and LTSC end up being too overwhelming to trust myself with, the only choice left would be to stay on W10 with Bitdefender, at least for my main PC. Though I’m still pretty anxious about malware:

3 - I initially thought that you could get malware only by consciously downloading files, opening mail attachments, going on uncertified sites or plugging in infected devices, but apparently there’s some types of malware that can infect your PC without you consciously doing anything? (For example, I read the WannaCry attack affected even machines that did none of the above?) Is there nothing you can do to prevent this from happening on an unsupported OS besides “not connecting it to the internet at all”? Is this just not a viable choice if I don’t want to risk losing my files or having my data stolen?

Even getting some of these answered would be great, and of course, if you think I have some misconceptions that need to be corrected I’d love if you did so, thanks in advance!