Boy, the good ole days are gone when it comes to Windows. I am posting just to help anybody that doesn’t know. This is like a creepy wire tap. If you are actually using Windows 11, make sure to disable and or reduce telemetry in Windows 11 (Privacy). If that actually helps, I am sure there are more ways they send data back but the video link is a simple how to for the telemetry. Here is more info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wtg_s1GQiMU
I tried Mint three or four years ago. Assorted game launchers weren’t working nicely and my games were laggy. Presumably the work done by Valve would allow Mint to be okay-ish by now, but that also applies to ZorinOS. In any case, I refuse to waste any more time troubleshooting Linux, until it has been given more time to be casualized.