OS X remains the safe option for now: Sophos
The Sophos Security Threat Management Report 2006 (pdf), which was published on Thursday, highlights the fact that only one piece of malware targeting OS X has been found in the wild -- and even that has not really posed a threat.
In stark contrast, around 40,000 pieces of malware have been discovered for Microsoft's Windows operating system in the past year alone. These facts go some way to explaining why Paul Ducklin, Sophos's head of technology in Asia Pacific, claims the Mac provides a "comfort zone" for users.
Ducklin goes on to say that Apple's record in security combined with the huge hardware requirements for Windows Vista may increase the Mac platform's popularity.
"You do need some pretty awesome hardware [to run Vista]. Maybe you will go and buy a Mac instead -- it is a comfort zone at the moment but that doesn't mean it will be forever," said Ducklin in a telephone interview.
According to Ducklin, Windows Vista is superior to Windows XP when it comes to security but he said there is still one big weakness -- the user.
"There is a lot of good stuff in [Vista] but it still can't protect you from yourself," said Ducklin, who claims to have tested the beta version quite thoroughly. "It makes it less likely that you will inadvertently screw up. But it can't protect you from 'oh I really want to install this program that will give me these features in return for some nebulously specified benefits'."
One of the biggest changes in Vista is the User Access Control, which will require users to type in a password before they are allowed to install software -- which is something that has been used by Apple's Mac platform for many years.
"If you try and install something it wont just go and take advantage of your administratorness [sic], it will actually say you are about to do an install and you need to promote yourself to be a real admin to finish this off. And it does that in a reasonably secure way," said Ducklin.
However, he warns again that the biggest threats are the users themselves: "But it can't stop you. You are the administrator and you still have the choice to say 'yes I want to run this program'."