Do you want to be completely proprietary, but extremely stable and secure; do you wish to know that you're not going to lose your data from a viral attack on your computer? Go with Macintosh. There's almost nothing to do as far as customization goes, but you don't need that. You need your data safe. This isn't to say that there is NO malware for Mac, but the amount is significantly less than Windows. Mac is also much more stable than Linux.
Are you someone who wants to be middle of the road about everything? You want to be able to customize your operating system, possibly making it less stable? You routinely back up your data on a physical copy, whether it be DVD, CD, DAT, whatever it is you use, so you're not extremely worried about losing your work to malware. It's still rather proprietary, but you are able to make some changes to the operating system itself, to make it run the way you want it to. Your best bet would be Microsoft Windows.
Perhaps you're an aspiring programmer or hacker (cracker,) or you just want to change up your operating system to act exactly how you want it. It isn't perfectly stable, and changing it yourself can weaken it even more, but if you learn what you're doing, then it will be your best friend. You can change anything you want, but you can just as easily screw everything up. Linux is the best operating system for customization, it can be terribly unstable, but it's rather secure. Since there are many different Linux operating systems (referred to as Distros,) there is almost no malware whatsoever for Linux. After all, why remake the same virus over and over again for each independent Distro?
While I'm on this topic, I was asked by my stepfather, someone relatively new AND inexperienced to computers (a terrible combination, by the way,) why less people use Linux than Windows or Macintosh, as well as why there is less malware for Linux or Macintosh than Windows.
This is a multifaceted answer, and difficult to explain fully, but I will provide a cursory rundown on what I've discovered.
Here's my reasons on why less people use Linux than Windows or Mac.
- It's not advertised on television, radio, billboards, or word of mouth as much as either of the other two are.
- Linux did not spearhead the technological revolution to computers.
- The command prompt is COMPLETELY different than Windows or Macintosh. The flags are different, the commands themselves are different, and even the syntax is different.
- People are lazy and don't want to learn something new.
- Most computer users have never heard of Linux.
- If they have heard of it, then they think it's only for programmers, or hackers. Neither of which they wish to be associated with.
- Programmers are lazy and have already made a program twice, once for Windows and once for Macintosh, if their job description says for them to. They don't want to go and make it again for Linux, which leaves a much smaller application base for Linux users to use in comparison.
Now, I realize in that last reason, I said that they think it's only for programmers while earlier on, I said,
Perhaps you're an aspiring programmer or hacker (cracker,) or you just want to change up your operating system to act exactly how you want it.My earlier statement wasn't completely accurate. Anyone can use Linux, and like it. It's simply that it's slightly geared towards those people.
Now, as for why there is less malware for Linux and Macintosh than on Windows.
- Microsoft Windows was the first truly GUI based operating system, which opened up the doors for script-kiddies to play around.
- Windows makes up the MAJORITY of operating systems being run on computers worldwide. People even install Windows on their Macintosh computers.
- Linux and Macintosh have completely different file organization and hierarchies in their engines. For example, a path in Windows may look like "C:\\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS2\" when the same path in Macintosh is "/Applications/Adobe Photoshop CS2/" and in Linux it's something else entirely. It's all different, and most people have Windows, so get the largest target audience.
- People on Linux are (generally) cautious about what they do on their computer, so they would be less likely to download something laced with malware anyway.
-Shikuto (mod15)
