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Should You Stop Running Windows?
Recently Google stopped allowing users to run Windows on their computers at Google. They stated that they were doing it as a safety measure due to the hack by the Chinese in January of some of their system's. That leads to the question, should we consider dropping Windows as well on our systems?
Honest, I think that it is a ridiculous over reaction by Google. If you look at how the hack took place it happened through an Adobe Flash exploit in Internet Explorer 6.0, which was released in 2001! Microsoft has considered that product to be obsolete for quite some time now and recommends that users upgrade to Internet Explorer 8.0, which was released in March 2009. So to say that Windows is vulnerable is only true in as much as some of the older software that can run on it is outdated and vulnerable.
I love this quote, “Seems to me that if Google really was still using IE6, it’s in the company’s best interests to shift the focus of blame off itself (because continuing to run IE6 was a monumentally boneheaded move) and onto Microsoft.”.
It’s well documented that the Apple Mac OS is a more vulnerable operating system than the latest version of Windows. The problem that Windows has is it’s market share, people focus on exploiting Windows because there is simply more of it out there. If you want to keep the Mac OS secure then hope they aren’t very successful. The more successful Mac OS becomes, the more exploits will be released for it.
It’s been speculated that the real reason why Google is moving away from Windows is to move to their own upcoming operating system, the Chrome OS, which will be a Linux based OS. I must admit, moving away from Windows is a good PR stunt by Google.
So, should you stop running Windows?
In my opinion the security issue is nullified. If the software you use is on Windows, use Windows. If the software you use it on Linux and / or Mac OS then run those operating systems. The main thing is that whatever operating system you choose to run, make sure to keep it patched, keep the software you are running up to date.
Linux
I don't use windows but I think 7 is OK. I recently read an article saying that Linux OS's will pass Microsoft by 2014. And I think Linux OS's make more sense in developing countries where cash isn't so easily available. And everything is become so web heavy it won't matter what OS you use.
Simplicity helps security
Actually I do support the opinion that disallowing Windows increases network security. In such large-scale networks as Google's, the more different clients with different software and different update status you have, the more vulnerable your network is. I mean, It's not specific to Windows, but rather to uniform the machine landscape which simplifies network administration a lot.
It's great that nowadays you could even use Linux in an Active Directory (WINDOWS)-Environment, but it's a bit complex (and complexity is always where sluggishness kicks in, malconfigured devices for example).
Encourage Linux use
Microsoft Windows is a security threat, although manageable. Microsoft Windows is a worse economic threat and freedom threat in the context of world-wide missions. I don't think that an outright ban on Microsoft Windows use is wise, as there is still some software that is only available for that operating system that we can benefit greatly from, but if all you do is word processing, email, and web surfing, you should be using Linux exclusively. Even if you can afford the more expensive operating system, it is good to be an example of how to do things effectively in a free operating system for those we work among and with in less affluent areas. Then there is the whole piracy and Christian witness thing. If you use free software, piracy is a non-issue and not a temptation.
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