Where do your viruses want to go today? 

Report are in that exploits have already been discovered and viruses have already been created for Microsoft Windows Vista. In case you don't know, Windows Vista is the next version of the Windows operating system currently projected to be available for purchase in the fourth quarter of 2006. You may have heard it referred to earlier under its codename, Longhorn. A couple of weeks ago, beta versions (preliminary releases for testing purposes) were released to software developers. Hackers got their hands on these early releases, too, and new viruses have already been written that specifically target this new version of Windows a year and a half before it is even set to be released!

Windows Vista, when launched at the end of 2006, will be the first version of Windows to be released since 2001 when Windows XP debuted. There are currently over 130,000 computer viruses aimed at Windows users.

Now contrast that with using a Mac. The beta version of Mac OS X was released to the public in the Fall of 2000 and the first commercial version appeared in 2001. There have been four successive major upgrades to the Mac operating system since. And how many viruses to date? NONE.

While the average Windows user wages a constant battle against viruses and spyware, and while the average Windows computer IS infected by one or the other (ever wonder why your "new" computer is running so slow?), Macs are virtually virus and spyware free. I say virtually because technically, you as a Windows user could email me a message with a virus attached. Once I received it, yes, there would technically be a virus on my computer. However, a Windows virus will NOT execute on a Mac, so it's dead weight.

Yes, I do run antivirus software on my Macs just in case there ever is a real Mac virus, but to date (five years since the release of the OS X beta), there hasn't been one. All my antivirus software ever detects is occasionally when one of you Windows users sends me a virus in an email. My software deletes it so that I don't accidentally forward it back to one of you Windows users who would then really be infected.

Many defenders of Windows will say that Macs are virus free because there aren't as many of us. That's partly true, but it's party a red herring. If all things were equal, there should be significantly less viruses on Macs than on Windows computers. However, remember that there are NO viruses for Mac OS X. That's because the two operating systems work differently. Viruses and spyware are in reality little programs running on your computer. On a Mac, a program cannot be installed without the direct intervention of the user by typing in a password. Therefore, there is no way that a virus can install itself onto a Mac without a user's knowledge. Yes, there have been occasional security holes in the Mac OS, but these have been plugged fairly quickly resulting in no viruses to date.

If you are a Windows user it's imperative that you run antivirus software and that you update it daily. However, there is a better solution than that. Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal said it best in his column, "How to Protect Yourself from Vandals, Viruses If You Use Windows," when he wrote the following:
 
Opting out: The single most effective way to avoid viruses and spyware is to simply chuck Windows altogether and buy an Apple Macintosh. Apple's operating system, Mac OS X, is harder for the criminals to infect, and the Mac's market share is so small that hackers, virus writers and spies get little thrill, financial gain or publicity from attacking the platform. 
 
I switched over from Windows to the Mac in 1998. To the rest of you who are still hesitant to jump in, all I can say is "Come on in--the water's fine..."