Microsoft has published a study that compares the number of security vulnerabilities in Vista to those in OS X, Windows XP and various Linux distributions. To allow for an fair comparison, he only measured flaws that were reported and patched in the first 90 days after the official launch.

Windows Vista comes out winning by a margin. The software received only 12 patches during the first 90 days. OS X 10.4 in its first 90 days plugged 60 holes, Windows XP 36 and Red Hat, Suse and Ubuntu between 74 and 281.

22 Jun 2007

Counting vulnerabilities is one way tot measure security, but certainly not the only way. Despite the 281 flaws that were patched in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 workstation or the 60 that his OS X, machines running those operating systems don't face the same threats from spyware, rootkits and viruses that are plaguing Windows XP in droves.

If you want a safe home, you don't just buy an expensive alarm system – you also move to a good neighborhood. Attackers are likely to shift their focus on OS X and Linux if they become more prevalent, or if they become easier to target than Windows. But until then, Windows is still leading the least secure environment around.