by Andrew Willson

Created on: May 11, 2010

Choosing an OS (Operating System) for your computer can be a tricky proposition, especially with the current menagerie of choices available. For the purposes of this discussion however, we will limit our choices to Microsoft Windows and GNU/Linux.

GNU/Linux is a very broad term which covers quite a few different distributions or flavors of OSs that were all originally based upon the Unix OS. This is the main strength of Linux OSs as a whole; the choice. They are based upon the concept of ‘Open Source,’ which means that the source code…the DNA of the OS if you will, is available for anyone to look at and edit as they see fit. This is very different from the proprietary source under which Microsoft Windows is released, which means there are very tight limits as to who may access and edit its source code. The importance of these distinctions are often lost upon those who are neither interested or able to edit the aforementioned code. The differences between the two have profound impacts on both security and price that cannot be ignored.

Security has always been a concern with computers, but the issue itself has grown far greater as more and more information is either stored or transferred over the Internet. Therefore, what an OS offers its users in information security is one of its biggest selling points. Microsoft Windows in particular has been at the forefront of attacks from all sorts of Malware, including Viruses, Trojans, Worms and more for many years. This is due in part to its popularity as well as the general lack of its users’ knowledge of how to secure it. If a Microsoft Windows system is protected by a Malware Scanner, a Firewall, and uses the correct permissions (i.e. settings which determine which programs are allowed to access parts of your computer or the Internet), they can be reasonably secure against these types of threats.

GNU/Linux based operating systems, on the other hand are by default more secure against these kinds of threats, because its permission settings do not allow programs to make changes to the OS without being specifically allowed to. In recent years, both Windows Vista and Windows 7 have replicated this preventative measure with the User Account Control (UAC) system. There were many complaints by new users to the UAC system when it was first implemented because people were simply not used to having to raise and lower permissions to the correct levels. Previous Microsoft systems had always done this

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