It never ceases to amaze me when these discussions end up with people arguing over Linux v Mac v Windows.

To me, this is akin to arguing whether a rape victim was responsible for the attack on her person because she had on a dress instead of pants or whether a person who died in a car-crash deserved their fate because they were driving a Cooper Mini when the semi hit them instead of an SUV. We can't all take the time to become computer experts, not every small business that relies on the internet can afford to hire or train an IT person (especially in this economy) and they shouldn't have to.

The point is not what browser people use, the point is that some worthless waste(s) of oxygen with too much knowledge and not enough intelligence is screwing around with peoples income and lives.

Maybe Conficker will turn out to be much ado over nothing or maybe not. But what happens when this or some other malware hits and destroys every computer running some sort of life saving equipment or trashes some vital piece software controlling air traffic? Do we blame the people who die because they were relying on a Windows computer to keep them alive instead of a MAC?

Agreed. We should all accept that no OS is completely immune, and arm ourselves as best we can. (Don't open strange emails, don't set your computer up to do Internet-related things automatically... the idocracy that some people would have the "automatically open safe files" option checked in Safari is beyond me...etc.)

I agree with you. Pretty much the only thing protecting Mac and Linux is their small market share, and for Mac that probably won't last long. I have a Mac and I use anti-virus software to scan it regularly because I know there are Mac viruses out there, and that there are likely to be more.

Also, people bash Microsoft without understanding the lengths the company goes to to address new vulnerabilities and come out with patches as quickly as possible. That's not easy at all.

Good point, but watch your examples: neither air traffic controller software nor essential medical software are likely to run on Windows. And they are especially not likely to be run on a Windows machine that is connected to the internet.

If you want to worry about essential systems coming down, worry about banks, or retail stores, or e-mail -- anything that links between home computer use and commercial use, and which uses Windows plus an internet connection.

The primary thing that protects Mac/Linux desktops is *not* small market share--it's the fact that unix-derived OSs (which includes OSX and above Macs) run on a multi-user kernel that does not grant system-level access to user session by default. Windows, on the other hand, is based on a single user kernel that does exactly the opposite--hence the annoying 'are you SURE you want to do that?' prompts in Vista.

It is extremely easy to compomise Microsoft-platform systems, server or desktop, and extremely difficult to do for Mac, Linux, or UNIX platforms... and will reman so, regardless of relative market share.

Your analogy is interesting but I feel that it is a little flawed. You have to take a little responsibility for your computer but that does not mean you have to be an expert. To do otherwise would be like driving your car for several weeks without refueling and wondering why you car does not work anymore. You have to have a least a small amount of knowledge to operate your car and to keep it going.

For those out there who use computers (especially those who depend on computers for business) there are only a few things you need to know:

Use windows update regularly, use up-to-date anti-virus software, use a safe browser, and do not download or open unsolicited data. These are things even a child can do and there is no excuse to not do them.

Yeah, I wondered what might be a good example. Mea culpa.

I think that you are dead wrong on this.

Yes, the nefarious types who develop and distribute malware like confiker are out to steal your personal info, your money and your privacy, co-opt your computer to send spam, and blackmail large sites with threats of DOS attacks, and deserve a good prison sentence.

But these scuzzy criminals have a far, far easier time of it than they should have, precisely because Microsoft has succeeded in foisting off a shoddy excuse of an operating system as cutting-edge technological wizardry, on an ignorant and gullible public. If Microsoft made cars, instead of operating systems, they would have been sued into bankruptcy by class action lawsuits years ago. Blaming criminals for exploiting Windows is akin to blaming foxes for raiding unfenced chicken coops, guarded by a half-bind, deaf, decrepit old chihuahua, with false teeth.