I'm setting up a new machine with Windows on it for a family member. Since I've personally not used Windows in over a decade, I'm a little disconnected from its current best practices.
I remember setting up an antivirus back in those days. The recent article on Avast let me know that AV software is apparently not a popular thing anymore. So what should I be doing? This machine is for the exclusive use of my parents (50+). They're kind of good at detecting scams and stuff, I haven't really needed to give support for the old machine in 5-7 years.
What are the current recommendations for setting up a machine with some security?
It makes it harder for them to accidentally install rootkits and certain kinds of spyware and ransomware. It also makes it harder to install some software globally, but that's the point.
If you want to go a step further you can try to set it up in some kind of kiosk mode, but that's probably too restrictive for day to day use.
Of course you should explain why it's set up this way. Something like "In day to day use, your standard user account lets you run the programs you already have, create new documents, send emails, etc. All the day to day stuff is taken care of and should work the same as always have. And it protects from you bad software and people trying to hack your machine. In the rare cases you need to install some new program, you should double check to make sure it's safe and legit first, like Googling for its official source and calling me if you're not sure. Then if you're it's safe, you use this other special account I left on this post it under your desk. Use it sparingly and only when you absolutely need to!"