MxLinux with KDE desktop running on an encrypted disk is a good start.

https://youtu.be/SklMysIrIBM

You have native: Thor, Mullvad, Free-office , Masterpdfcreator, LibreWolf, GIMP, INKSCAPE, AEGIS, Kdenlive, Signal, Betterbird for your email, dia for diamgrams, and if you need, you can add Kexi and SQlite for databases.

Of course, at your disposal are all the other packages that make life interesting.

And if you go the linux route, it may very well be you'll find all the other ways to give a big fuck you to big tech.

Fun part? MXlinux has an ANTIX core around Debian. Antix is derived from antifa .... yes .... Sometimes, like Pepe, we need to appropriate the good stuff.

So, if you are still on Windooooooozzzzzzz, wake up, smell the coffee and get into gear.

Install Rufus. download the live-cd iso and burn it to the USB. Restart your computer/ laptop ( check secure boot). At the very least you can check it out. You' ll find in most cases it will run out of the box, and even can give your old box a new life, as Linux basically is low in resources. So, instead of KDE I would then recommend the fluxbox or XFCE desktop.

And of course, from this point on, you can simply install it, and add all the goodies from the packagemanager.

Even better: learn to use the command line. sudo is boss.

It would be good to safe that linux iso or make a snapshot with persistence. It would make your setup totally portable in your pocket if burned to a < 20G USB