We want to expose one myth right now: while proponents of UNIX-based systems like Apple Mac OS X and Linux like to tout the supposed security benefits of their systems over Windows, the truth is that these competitors benefit primarily from security by obscurity. That is, so few people use these systems relative to Windows that hackers don’t bother targeting the minority operating systems. Consider this: in 2007, the installed base of Windows-based PCs exceeded 1 billion, but the maker of the number-two OS, Apple, claims just 25 million users. That’s right, only 2.5 percent of the Windows user base is using the number-two most frequently used OS on earth. Hackers may be evil but they’re not dummies: they know where the numbers are.
This isn’t a partisan attack on Mac OS X or Linux. Both are fine systems, with their own particular strengths; and as far as security by obscurity goes, it’s certainly a valid enough reason to consider using OS X or Linux instead of Windows. It’s one of the reasons we both use Mozilla Firefox instead of Internet Explorer: in addition to various features that Firefox offers, the browser is hacked a lot less often than IE simply because fewer people use it.
Source of Information : Wiley Windows 7 Secrets (2009)
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