This is a good reason why I use Linux. Ubuntu has a nice update feature that seems to me to put security updates at a higher priority than others. I'm a novice with just enough savvy to get into trouble.
I've heard that there is a 50% chance of becoming infected with a virus or other bad thing of the networked world faster than you can bring up the new machine and get a safe system up and running with the latest updates.
I wouldn't have half the problem with the whole thing if Microsoft would at least act like it is a problem. They have9 90% of the market in the States and I perceive that they just don't care.

Kelly

Kelly, not a fan of Microsoft myself.

Having said that, I actually think they do care. Their lack of security is beginning to cost them business, and I am seeing them invest in the security community and related initiatives. But I'm realistic about their problem.

It's incredibly difficult to take a system that was never engneered for security and make it secure, while keeping everything running smoothly and not breaking all of the applications that are the reason people are locked in to your OS. Given that, plus their lack of transparency, I don't see the problem getting a lot better any time soon. MS will, I believe, continue to be the default OS that wins via network effects, and imposes a significant security and maintenance penalty as its twin prices.

The link in the article doesn't work for me...

Odd, works for me... just tested. And with Mozilla, yet.

I have had Windows XP Home running on a laptop since the fall of 2002 and I don't have any problems with it. It boots slower today than then because I have more software installed and the registry etc is larger which is why I uninstall software I never use. Outlook takes longer to start because I have a lot of mail, contacts and appointments saved. Third party Anti-virus software and the windows firewall seem to provide the needed security, although I run Internet Explorer in high security mode (no javascript) and use another browser when I need javascript. I download anti-virus updates and windows updates weekly. My laptop went through a period where it started crashing but I opened the fan compartment (after cutting flathead screwdriver slots in the screws with a dremel tool) and saw the cpu heat-sink was clogged solid with dust. A vacuum cleaner fixed the problem completely so that had nothing to do with windows. I like linux too but I couldn't get it to work on my laptop and I have experience installing linux on several other computers. Last time I checked there was tons more software for windows than linux so not everyone has the choice of using linux.

Continued from #5... I reboot once a week, otherwise I hybernate the computer when I'm not using it.

#3 from Fred K on January 27, 2006 03:52 AM

"The link in the article doesn't work for me..."

The link doesn't work for me either, and (aside to Joe) I also use Mozilla.

The Bene Gesserit advise you all to get mac'd.
i have this one on order. ;)

Nope - the link doesn't work here with IE6 either.

Get An Apple and Regain Your Life"http://lostbudgie.blogspot.com/2006/01/huge-windows-pc-virus-threat-apple.html

Most Windows users don't even know they are abused. They have never known anything else. And, typical of an abusive relationship pathology, most Windows users will defend the one who continues to beat them.

You Can Regain Your Computing Life...

This February marks four years since Lost Budgie switched from Windows to the Apple Mac OSx operating system.

That's four years of doing business using Apple Computers in a mostly-Windows world. I exchange data files, documents, emails, photos and movies with Windows users every day - no problems at all.

But here is the big difference between Apple Mac users and Windows victims...

While my Windows friends tear their hair out every few weeks with crashes, data loss, viruses, back-door trojans, blue screens of death and an operating system that steals whole days every month from even the average user - here's what it is like to be a Mac User...

In four years of heavy daily Apple Mac use by six operators...

- Zero Data Loss
- Zero Virus Infections
- Zero Trojans
- Zero System Crashes (Not a one!)
- Zero System Hangs or Unscheduled Re-boots Needed (Not a one!)
- Zero Hardware Failures

The Apple computer with Mac OSx operating system is stable and reliable.

Apple just works. All the time.

Thank you Apple.

On my motorcycle list, Lost Budgie, we've settled on the penalty for opening the eternal Mac vs. PC bragging contest as coming to my house and washing our bikes. We only have three of them...you free Saturday?

A.L.

http://linuxmafia.com/~rick/faq/plural-of-virus.html

re: "virii"