I do not use this method for security. I use it for speed, reliability and aesthetics. The complexity fetish of too many software developers has driven me to appreciate minimalism.

Also, the computers I use are often older, underpowered and/or have limited resources. Running VMs is usually not an option. You cannot assume that everyone has the free overhead available to run VMs.

The large, graphical browsers controlled by corporations are slow, unwieldy and overkill for making simple HTTP requests. The "full browsing experience" is highly unsatisfactory for me. I am not "trading off" anything. I like fast, text-only information retrieval.

That said, the statement I made still stands. Using TCP clients and a text-only HTML reader is probably "more secure" than using one of the corporate graphical browsers that allow users to do more dangerous things. A side benefit.

To each their own.