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)."

Comments

Doesn't add up

[Anonymous Coward]

"39 vulnerabilities, 12 of which were ranked high priority or severe, were found in Microsoft Windows"

"Symantec found 43 vulnerabilities in Mac OS X and a 66 day turnaround on fixes. Fortunately, only one was high priority"

I fail to see how this makes Windows more secure than Mac OS X.

Re:Simply

[Strilanc]

... and none of them will have read the article.

If you DO read the article for the vulnerability counts:
Windows - 39, 12 severe, average 21 day fix
Mac - 49, 1 severe, average 66 day fix
Red Hat - 208, 2 severe, average 13 day fix

Now it looks to me like Windows performed the worst because of the large number of severe problems. This makes it more likely there are many more severe problems.

Re:small addition

[PopeRatzo]

Those of us who think there is room in the world for both Windows, OSX and Linux...

There's not only "room" for Windows, OSX and Linux, but there's a crying need for new blood in the OS arena.