Antivirus Ratings Article

Linux security

Let me start by saying that I love Linux to death. It is truly awe inspiring that a group of hobbyists, working in their spare time, can make an operating system that is better than any of the leading competitors, and give it out for nothing all over the world. Linux security is second to none, and Linux tutorials now make the program much more accessible to your average user. Nonetheless, There are still some serious problems with Linux. If you are a high end user, expert in all things digital, there is no comparison between Linux and Windows. Linux is clearly the better choice, and you'd have to be a fool to use Windows. For the vast majority of us, however, it is a much more difficult decision to make.

One of the biggest advantages of Linux over Windows is Linux user security. Many devotees say that Linux security is second to none, but I think that a better way to think about it is that Windows security is second to everyone. Windows, after all, is the only mainstream operating system that regularly gets viruses. Apple has been able to all but eliminate virus infection in the wild, but Microsoft Windows has to issue new security patches and updates almost every week in order to protect itself from the latest hacker threats.

Nonetheless, these differences are somewhat deceiving. You see, Windows is idiot proof. It is designed so that, as far as possible, someone who knows nothing about computers can use it and not worry about what is going on behind the scenes. Linux, on the other hand, has never been fully adapted for your average computer user. There are strains of it, such as Ubuntu Linux, that do work pretty well for your average user, but even so, it is easy to leave Linux security holes if you don't know what you are doing. Failing to adequately protect your password, in fact, can compromise your whole system. Linux security is foolproof provided that Linux is properly set up, but if not, a malicious hacker can do even more damage than if you were running a Windows system.

Still, if you have a good friend who understands Linux security, you would do better to install Linux than Windows. Although there are some issues with interoperability – some programs do not run on Linux – in general, you can do everything you need to do using it, and do it better, faster, and with more stability than with Windows.