Of course Windows has many flaws, especially lately with all the silly stuff Microsoft does, but no option is perfect and we are left to choose the lesser evil from all of the evils, lol.
Not to mention silly stuff like ransomeware, trojans, virus, etc. that Linux and FreeBSD are not vulnerable to. I don't have an anti-virus program on any of my machines.
And Linux never was a viable mainstream OS for daily usage...
I use Kali GNU/Linux and FreeBSD daily, as those are the only Operating Systems I have on any of my 8 laptops. I'm using a Lenovo Thinkpad T61 running Kali Linux 2022.1 to post this from:
Machine Stats: for this T61:
Kali GNU/Linux Rolling 2022.1
Fluxbox Window Manager
Thinkpad T61
Intel Core 2 Duo CPU T7300 @ 2.0GHz
4GB PC2-5300 RAM
nVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M
15.4" 1680x1050 (WSXGA+) widescreen
Hitachi Travelstar 500GB HDD @ 7200RPM
Intel PRO/1000 Network Connection
Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965
Hitachi CD-RW / DVDRAM combo
Intel HD Audio
Could you please be more specific than a blanket statement about how "Linux never was a viable mainstream OS for daily usage"?
I can surf the web, watch or download movies, videos or music, listen to music, burn and rip CD's and DVD's, etc. and everything I consider necessary to suit my needs to qualify as a Daily Driver fit for installation on 4 laptops.
If it's not a viable option because you don't know how to use it, having used Windows all your life, I have a Beginner's Tutorial on Building A FreeBSD 13.0 Desktop From Scratch with a target audience of someone who has never used the command line that takes you from installation of the Base System to a fully functional Fluxbox desktop using ports to compile third party programs.
https://trihexagonal.org/