Jennifer Taylor, IT Security Advisor, Software Paradise:
A. Security is difficult to analyse. Only operating systems that have no contact with the outside world are truly secure.
Some operating systems include: Windows, Linux, Solaris, Mac OS X, FreeBSD, NetBSD and OpenBSD. OpenBSD has a tremendously strict security policy; only two remote attacks have been discovered in the last ten years. As OpenBSD doesn’t run a large number of networked applications, it doesn’t leave much room for attack.
Windows XP and prior runs with a vast number of network services that the user can operate with full privileges. Vista attempted to fix this problem, but users claimed that their old applications did not work properly and that it was “too confusing” to use.
Mac OS X surpasses Windows on user permissions. Linux in comparison are very quick at patching security risks. However, the top two distributions (collection of software applications such as word processors and media players bundled with Linux) intentionally use out of date code.
