Does Windows Suck?
Article Date: 4 February 2008. Last updated 29 May
2008.
Article by Howard Sherman - The King of All Geeks
In Our
Computer Buyer's
Guide Part 2, I handed down the ruling that
the Apple Macintosh, in all of its forms, was the computer of choice for
home users and worth a very serious look for business owners.
I qualified my informed opinion through years of
experience of seeing hundreds upon hundreds of consumers frustrated to the
point of insanity at seeing their home and business computers infected,
re-infected and then re-re-infected with spyware, pop-ups, viruses, etc.
Apple's OS X system, for the most part, is not targeted
with spyware/malware/virus infections nearly as much as the Windows
operating system (2000, XP, Vista, take your pick).
That's why I tell a lot of people to buy an Apple these
days.
To my astonishment, I've been back out to people's homes
(sometimes within just a couple of weeks of my first visit) to find their
computers just as infected, if not more infected, with malware than before.
I say astonished because me and all of my geeks sit down
with our customers and explain to them, during our visit, all the steps they
can take to prevent future occurrences of infections.
To reinforce this point, all new customers receive a thank
you letter from me with even further elaboration of what they can do to keep
their computer in good condition.
Even more startling than seeing a computer quickly
re-infected are most people's first inclination to blame me
(or one of my merry men) for not doing the
job right the first time and demanding we spend another two or three hours
on their computer for free!
So.... Does Windows suck?
I hate to say it, friends and neighbors, but computers
don't infect themselves.
So, no, Windows isn't the culprit. Not hardly.
The culprits are the criminals and miscreants who either
make money or get their jollies (or, more frequently, both!) by infecting
Windows computers ten different ways to Sunday.
The trick to keeping your Windows system running smoothly
is to avoid the criminals and the hooligans.
Think of the Internet in terms of the world itself.
The World Wide Web indeed.
Some parts of the world are beautiful (Monaco, Australia,
San Diego), others majestic and rich with history (London, Paris, Moscow,
New York City) and some are just downright dangerous (South Central Los
Angeles, The South Bronx, Detroit, Iran, Kazakhstan, etc. etc.)
If you parked your car in a Detroit parking lot at around
9am and dashed inside a building for just a few minutes leaving the car
running should you be shocked to discover your car was stolen in the five
minutes you were gone?
(By the way -- this story is not exaggerated. I was
there hearing the shrieks of shocked discovery whilst at a client site
attending a meeting right off Woodward Avenue in the center of Detroit.)
How does parking a running car in the middle of Detroit in
broad daylight to discover it stolen five minutes later relate to your
computer?
Easy. Too many computer users
are surfing the web over to the Internet equivalent of Detroit, the Gaza
Strip, Kazakhstan, etc and voluntarily downloading the most harmful
software and junk imaginable.
The connection point here is: careless behavior often leads
to bad outcomes.
Illicit pornography, "free ringtones", iPod
give-aways, free IM emoticon downloads, new search toolbars, desktop weather
software, free
desktop wallpaper, downloading free music and movies (an illegal activity,
by the way) etc. etc. are all culprits here.
Do you want the latest weather report? Surf over to
www.weather.com
You want a search toolbar? Click the Yahoo banner at the
top of this page and you'll get a nifty toolbar that will only help you make
the most of the Internet.
Pornography? My advice is to stay away from the stuff
altogether but definitely stay away from any and all free porn. Treat
free porn like plutonium; don't touch it. Too many computers are
slammed with infections from websites that suck in unsuspecting web surfers
with the allure of free
pornography.
Downloading free music and movies? Apart from running the
risk of getting sued by the big record companies and movie studios who can
run you into the poor house with legal fees, every file-sharing service I
ever saw (like Limewire, Torrents, WinMX, Kazaa) are breeding grounds
for all kinds of spyware and virus infections.
If you're using a file sharing service I can guarantee
your computer is infected right now.
Here's a tried and true pearl of wisdom: There is no such thing as a free lunch.
Too many websites try to reel you in with really great stuff... for free.
How many legitimate companies do you think could stay in business giving
away free laptops, iPods, flat screen TVs, porn, etc. etc. all day long?
Microsoft produces
the most popular operating system on the planet. 93% of all computers
run Windows because it is the most powerful, most flexible and most
accessible operating system on the face of the earth.
The thugs of the Internet are going where the people are
to virtually mug you.
That's why you need to keep out of those bad neighborhoods
of the Internet whenever possible. And you must always have superior
Internet security software to keep you safe even when you do everything
right and a thug tries and sneaks in to your computer.
Used improperly,
your Windows computer will be endlessly hammered with harmful software that
the criminals of the Internet design for the sole purpose of targeting as
many innocent people as possible.
We recommend PC
Tools Internet Security highly for its comprehensive approach to protecting
your computer against security threats, privacy invasions and junk mail.
Purchase PC Tools Internet Security
 here.
Used properly,
a Windows computer will give you years of service with just a little bit of
maintenance (metaphors one more time -- that would mean occasional
oil changes, tune ups, etc. etc. -- delivered by your friendly neighborhood
Royal Geek.) Drive your computer in good neighborhoods. Visit
established websites operated by reputable companies. If you stay in
the good neighborhoods of the Internet chances are excellent your computer
won't be infected with vicious software.
What about infections delivered via email?
Don't open emails from people you don't know. Remember
our parents' classic advice -- Don't talk to strangers? That golden advice
is as valuable today as ever!
Here's something my dear old dad taught me (among many
things) -- Take care of your car and your car will take care of you.
That's equally true of your computer.
Drive safely.
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