14 DAY TRIAL // You were able to read recently about extensive comparisons between Windows Vista, Linux and Mac OS X. The center stage of the comparisons between the operating systems was the level of security they deliver. Jeff Jones is a Security Strategy Director in Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing group and one of the main contributors to the Windows Vista - Linux and Mac OS X security comparison. Jones is the author of two reports that detail an inside look into the volume of vulnerabilities that have affected the Windows, Linux and Mac platforms.
For this, he has released two separate reports: "Windows Vista - 90 Day Vulnerability Report" and "February 2007 - Operating System Vulnerability Scorecard." In both, Windows Vista manages to come on top of both Linux and Mac OS X as far as code quality is concerned. Jones has concluded in both reports that Windows Vista was the operating system less affected out of the three.
But can the comparison be made? There have been arguments stating that the three products do not support a comparison because of the differences between them. The various components that the developers have bundled with Vista, Linux or Mac OS X make eventual comparisons inadequate.
The fact of the matter is that Jones has compared three operating systems. This is the first argument in his favor. Additionally, the common denominator of his comparison is security. User protection links the three platforms more than anything else, and it also separates them.
Windows Vista, Linux and Mac OS X with the default installation settings and without the use of optional bundled components suffer comparison without any issues as far as security is concerned.