Recommended Operating Systems for Privacy & Security

In this era, its incredibly hard to locate user-friendly operating systems that respect privacy and offer decent security out of the box. That's why I have compiled this (subjective) list of such operating systems. I'm aware that privacy and security are inherently different things (e.g. if your only objective is secure use, then services from Google would be a good proposition, as they have the ability to mitigate threats faster than a smaller firm may, but if you need privacy and security, you would likely look at other options), so that is why this list is a subjective, non catch-all list.

NOTE: All listed Linux distros support disk encryption out-of-the-box, even if not explicitly mentioned in the descriptions.

Recommended for out-of-the box use (little/no customization needed)

• Linux Mint - user-friendly, familiar for Windows users, and runs well on low-end systems; offers disk encryption out of the box (with the decryption key being your account's password). Debian based (with some Ubuntu repositories added out-of-the-box). Download Linux Mint.
• Fedora - not quite as user-friendly, but if used with a Windows-like desktop environment (DE) it can be made more intuitive for less-literate computer users (Cinnamon [Mint's default DE] may be suitable for this use case). Red Hat/Fedora based. Download Fedora. Fedora Spins (variants with alternate desktop environments [out-of-the-box, in lieu of GNOME], such as Cinnamon and Xfce).

Recommended for technically advanced users

• Qubes - Requires powerful hardware to facilitate its virtual machine/sandboxing environment, however, it does offer enhanced privacy over Ubuntu, Fedora, or Windows due to the sandboxing capabilities. Supports creating Debian, Fedora, and Windows environments. Download Qubes.
• Windows 10 - Only advised if you follow a hardening guide, such as the KONAT Windows 10 setup and hardening guide. Licenses do cost money, however, there are ways around that (piracy and harvesting licenses from old systems, to name two ways). Download Windows 10.

Recommended for "extreme circumstances" (defined as a need to remain relatively secure and untraceable)

• Tails (The Amnesic Incognito Live System) - An operating system intended to run from a USB pendrive, intended only for the usage of the Tor Browser. Download Tails.
• AUTHOR'S NOTE: Tails does not protect you from possible hardware backdoors, nor will any other operating system mentioned here, or anywhere. If you suspect that your hardware has been backdoored, CEASE USAGE IMMEDIATELY AND REPLACE YOUR HARDWARE. Additionally, Tor will not protect you from being deanonymized if A). you had to identify yourself to a network to connect (e.g. providing an e-mail, ID number, or room number) and/or B). you are the only Tor user on the network (basically, don't use Tor to send bomb threats; this is another article for another day, though).