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Surprise, Windows Listed as Most Secure OS
david_g17 writes "According to a Symantec study reported by Information Week, Microsoft has the most secure operating system amongst its commercial competitors. The report only covered the last 6 months of vulnerabilities and patch releases, but the results place Microsoft operating systems above Mac OS X and Red Hat. According to the article, 'The report found that Microsoft Windows had the fewest number of patches and the shortest average patch development time of the five operating systems it monitored in the last six months of 2006.' The article continues to mention the metrics used in the study (quantity and severity of vulnerabilities as well as the amount of time one must wait for the patch to be released)."
This discussion will go as follows.
Linux geeks will pound the boards about foul play and all the vulerabilities they would exploit if they werent to busy checking dependencies.
Mac fanboys will make fun of both citing how Symantec didnt like them in the first place, because Mac people dont buy Symantec products.
Windows geeks will state how this has always been the case, but because they are the more popular OS they are a bigger target.
And finally the old unix guys will flame about how none of these vulnerabilites would have happened if we would have stayed away from GUIs.
So now that we have got that out of the way we can bypass all the leg humping and mindless dribble and get down to the real discussion...can Microsoft keep it up? Personally as a network admin I have not been too nervous the last 6 months. Since the year of the blaster MS has done a pretty good job of making up for exploits and covering their asses. All is quiet on the homefront.
CS: It is all sink or swim...oh and did I mention there are sharks in that water?
its a blue screen that tells you
IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
never been infected while ive seen that on my screen
even in Vista !
I can picture that scene from Star Wars, where Obi Wan feels a disturbance in the force, except instead of thousands of voices being silenced, it's the sound of thousands of dyed-in-the-wool Linux geeks having an aneurysm.
:D
Just take a deep breath guys! If it's at all therapeutic, just remind everyon that Norton Antivirus sucks!
- Scott
Surely you've jumped the gun. This is March 22. April 1st isn't for a few days.
Steve Ballmer's chair throwing corps makes sure they get good reviews.. or else.
"Snatching defeat from the mouth of victory on a daily basis."
In MY day, we toggled programs into the front panel with SWITCHES, and we LIKED IT! Now get off my lawn, you damn kids.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
"We don't sell any anti-virus or firewall software when people buy Linux."
Chris Mattern
Cancel or Allow?
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C1 bottles of beer on the wall. Take one down, pass it round... Oh, umm...
I rather like watching people falling over themselves to defend a computer operating system as if what they were saying actually changes something. It is fun to watch people who are so disconnected from reality.
Also, you have to love how a site billed as "news for nerds" has people adding absolutely worthless tags such as "no" to a story.
Wow. Windows 95 must be the most secure OS ever.
I haven't seen any patches for it in ages!
Have you tried turning it off and on again?
Symantec's net income mysteriously increased by $10 million....In other news, Microsoft's net income shows a decrease of $10 million. Upon investigation of Microsoft's income statement, "other expenses" showed an increase of $10 million...
Symantec has all the street cred of a pimply-faced 17-year old driving his mom's Lexus SUV. Seriously.
This is a sig. It is like every other sig in the world, except that it is mine, and it is different.
Death to all fanatics!
I drank what? -- Socrates
The strange thing here is that they say Windows has six times as many severe vulnerabilities and conclude "... therefore Windows is *more* secure than Linux
War is Peace
Ignorance is Strength
Windows is Secure
and
Windows is the most secure operating system. Windows has ALWAYS been the most secure operating system.
9/10 dentists recommend using [insert toothpaste brand] over becoming a serial murderer.
Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
All you have to do is max out the firewalls and not allow anything to be installed. If you are still having problems just disconnect it form the internet. Turning it off makes a Windows machine even more secure.
You make it sound like arguing isn't worth doing for its own sake.
---
Emily Latella
$x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
$x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
I for one welcome our bedtime attacking ghost overlords.