Windows 8 is very fragile when it comes to getting malware, it is very easy to get a malicious program on it that can prevent it from running properly. And Windows 10 has compatibility issues with older applications and games. So there is not much choice when it comes to running a Windows operating system on your machine. Support for Windows 7 is running out in 2020, Microsoft are forcing users to upgrade to Windows 10, but it has many issues and I would not want to run it at all. But eventually the support for Windows 8.1 will run out and then what do you do? Linux has many applications like LibreOffice, Thunderbird and Firefox, this is very useful for managing E-Mail and browsing the web. As well as Blender for 3D modelling and even video editing. So it is very capable as a desktop operating system. And you do not need to reboot after installing updates until you are ready to do so. This is night and day compared to Windows. The file deletion scandal with Windows 10 has soured the reputation of One Microsoft Way, Redmond WA. But people will still install the OS. Many people are too stupid to do anything else. And people still run Internet Explorer on their machines. According to my AWstats. That is shocking.
Sure, Internet Explorer latest version is better than it was, but it is still not the best browser out there. Firefox is much better, and it is free as in beer. One good tip with a Windows machine is to always use a limited user account for day to day use instead of the Administrator, this will lessen the damage when malware is downloaded compared to an Administrator account. That is what a lot of users forget. That is how you are supposed to use Windows. That helps with a lot of things. You are prompted for your password when admin tasks need to be performed. Then the system is more secure, or as secure as Windows can be that is. But that is not what happens in the real world. Many users fall victim to phishing scams and other malware, this is very lucrative when we are talking about malware that locks a person`s computer until they pay a ransom. This uses serious encryption and you do have to pay to get your files back, they are locked out otherwise. So Ransomware is a serious threat to many modern computers, but it is only stupid users and less than optimal supervisors and systems administrators that let malware in to modern computer networks anyway.
What is required is better supervision of users and much better malware scanning of computer networks. USB devices should be scanned when they are plugged in and then they should be cleaned if the computer software detects malicious app(s).