Tails Operating System is a small operating system that lives on a USB flash drive. It uses Tor by default, and deletes everything but a specific 'persistent' user directory after each use. It's the easiest way to use the internet without leaving a trace.
Because Tails is so conservative, my only complaint with it is that it's too restrictive for much more than casual web browsing. Trying to develop software, for instance, is a nightmare. Most network apps, from curl to IPFS, are locked down and prevented from working properly.
- Pidgin is an instant messaging client that comes bundled with Tails. One of the first things I often want to do when working within Tails is open a window to the outside world, so that I can get information from my regular dev machine into whatever project I'm working on within Tails. Pidgin, XMPP (jabber), and OTR encryption are how I do that securely. This video is a walk through on how to set up end-to-end encrypted instant messaging using Pidgin, both inside and outside of Tails.