Windows 10 has both firewall and anti virus built in and they're both very good, no need for anything else.
+1 to this.
www.tenforums.com
Although now our game libraries are essentially at the mercy of the DRM providers. Steam's unlikely to go splat in the near future, and they allegedly have plans to make sure gamers can still use their games should they shut up shop, but people could still find their entire game libraries worth thousands of £ wiped out.
As opposed to the old days where you actually owned your copy.
Some clients are DRM-free at least, like GOG: https://www.gog.com/
NB: Steam isn't the only client / DRM platform either. Until a few weeks ago, EA's games were only on Origin (now also on Steam). Epic (the ones behind Fortnite) are rapidly expanding their own client and platform, and have landed several high profile titles as 'timed exclusives' i.e. you can only get them on Epic for the first year. Borderlands 3, Metro Exodus, The Outer Worlds I think.
If you don't have an Epic account, worth making one, as they give away games (often very good ones) for free every week. EA did something similar with Origin, and Ubisoft have done it with uPlay before.
Competition is good at least - and GOG are making a serious effort to develop a game client that unifies the different platforms so you can see your libraries all in one place, at least, available now in open beta.
Also, you don't need to buy games directly from Steam. You can usually find them cheaper on legit resellers listed on
https://isthereanydeal.com/
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Yes you get Windows defender and firewall as part of Windows, and once Windows has installed it will be there by default.
You can set up controlled folder access to protect your data against ransomware:
How to Enable or Disable Controlled Folder Access in Windows 10
How to Enable or Disable Windows Defender Exploit Guard Controlled Folder Access in Windows 10 Starting with Windows 10 build 16232, Controlled folder access is introduced in Windows Defender Antivirus. Controlled folder access helps you protect valuable
As for 'nothing to worry about', you still need to take your own precautions. Use complex, and unique passwords for accounts you use. But that's true of macs, sites you access via iphone/android/life in general.
If you ever find something you don't know how to do in Windows, ofc you can ask here but Tenforums is a great resource.
www.pcgamer.com
Game clients:
The most popular desktop gaming clients, ranked
Is Steam really the best you can do on PC? Maybe, but there are decent alternatives.
Your options are:
If you play games on PC, you will almost certainly have to use Steam at some point. That's not really an option, most games are on Steam, it's hard to avoid Steam even if you wanted to.
You may also have to use other things that are like Steam if you want a game that is not on Steam. For instance, Blizzard's "World of Warcraft" is only available on Blizzard's "Battle.net" client. Which is their equivalent of Steam.
You can buy games direct from Steam / Ubisoft / etc. Or you can buy game from other stores ("resellers") that sell keys for less.
Some stores are 'grey market' i.e. may sell non-valid keys. Any store listed on Isthereanydeal will be a valid reseller.
Example:
I bought Total War: WARHAMMER II - Curse of the Vampire Coast yesterday. It was £7.49 on Steam. A shop called 2game was selling it for £5.39. So I bought it on 2game and saved a couple of quid. They gave me a 'game key' which I activated on Steam, and got the game via Steam.
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DRM - digital rights management. To (try to) stop people pirating games, or indeed movies, music, any digital media.
if you every bought a movie or music on itunes, you're familiar with DRM.
In real terms DRM means you need an account on a platform like Steam to verify you have a legitimate copy, and you then can only launch the game by using that software. Some DRM is particularly aggressive, requiring you to be online constantly for constant verification, even in single player titles. Some are alleged to reduce game performance through inordinate CPU load.
It runs against traditional concepts of owning media. if you buy a bluray or a book, you own that book or movie. You don't need an internet connection to give you permission to read it.
GOG (and some others) offer DRM-free games. So you buy the game from them, download it, and after that you run the game without needing GOG, Steam or any other software to verify it's a legit copy.
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Ransomware is malware that encrypts files on your PC and then extorts money from you to give you your data back. Controlled folder access prevents programs from altering the data in those folders, protecting you from ransomware. You may have heard of WannaCry.
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Game reseller = shop / online store. Specifically a store that doesn't make the games / manage the DRM, but just sells games. Like you can buy a Macbook direct from Apple. Or you can buy a Macbook from a reseller like PC World.
Same thing with games. You can buy Assassin's Creed: Odyssey direct from Ubisoft, or you can buy it from a shop like Humble, Fanatical, Green Man Gaming, or a few dozen others. Resellers sell you the key / code for the game, which you then activate on Steam (or the relevant DRM software).
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I had kaspersky for years before I moved to windows defender and it was my favorite paid for package by a country mile. So much better than Norton, cheaper and more fully featured.
Please. That would be great.
I'm afraid I STRONGLY disagree.