Turning off all Microsoft's data collection in Windows is not easy these days (this affects Win 7 & 8 as well as 10 from what I've heard). Windows is pretty much a security/privacy problem by design these days. Figuring out who they're sharing your data with from the T's & C's is probably a lost cause.


OTOH, you've gotta be pretty determined if you want to start using Linux permanently. My suggestion would be to wait til you can afford a new computer, then run Linux on 1 machine and Windows on the other (there's always going to be a reason to stick with what you know while you figure out the transition).

But if you can do that, you're going to have way more control over your computer using Linux than is possible with Windows (and it's only set to get worse apparently). Just stay away RedHat/Fedora tech (which is a Microsoft sponsored Linux company that works pretty hard to screw up Linux)