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Discussion on: Windows or Mac (or Linux😁) for devs?

 
michaelcurrin profile image
Michael Currin • Edited

Not doing to do a deep dive, but just going to pick a few quotes from the first few articles in a search, willing to see arguments from both sides on has the reputation for being more secure. And as a bonus if this still holds.

Overall I found mac does indeed have the reputation for being more secure but this is due to windows being 90% of user and therefore targeted. And that both systems have vulnerabilities and neither is inheritantly more secure.

DuckDuckGo search "Windows vs mac security".

Results in the order found. First 4 below are first 4 in the results.

Kaspersky 2020. First result.

Apple's Mac computer line has proven itself over the last decade as a significant competitor to Microsoft's Windows platform. Alongside a powerful software and hardware ecosystem, Apple has also garnered a more "secure" reputation than Windows PCs.

Digitaltrends conclusion

As Microsoft continues to make gains in this department and user sensitivity to the issue changes, the situation will continue to evolve. For now, the assumption about the Mac’s superior security stands.

Transunion

Not on reputation but comment that they are equally resistant.

“There’s nothing inherent in how OS X is built that makes it much more resistant to viruses.” Rather, Windows are at a higher risk of hacker attack — upwards of a million new threats each day by some estimates — because malware developers are looking to target as many machines as possible.

Macs may not come with antivirus protection, but they do have another way of keeping malicious programs off your computer: Gatekeeper. This is a utility built into the operating system that automatically blocks software from being installed that does not come from an approved developer. ... Windows users have access to a similar utility, called Device Guard, however this is designed for a trained administrator on a computer network.

Mac sounds better equipped by default with regards permissions.

Tom's guide

Macs have long had a reputation of being more "secure" than Windows PCs, with users believing that Apple machines are impenetrable to cybercriminals planning to carry out malware attacks.

The bottom line: Macs and PCs both have flaws and vulnerabilities, albeit in slightly different ways. For example, cybersecurity company Kaspersky suggests that Windows requires more active security upkeep, while Apple has been less proactive with security updates and patches.

No matter which operating system you may be using, don't get lulled into a false sense of security.

Digital trends again

Though arguably safer than Windows because it’s less frequently used (a concept known as security through obscurity) it’s not inherently more secure.

They actually said Chrome OS was most secure but Mac is next best as practical choice.

Another angle:

CNET

"If you look at the number of published vulnerabilities in software and the number of users and compare Windows versus Mac OS you will discover that Mac OS has far more published vulnerabilities per user than Windows does so I think the data pretty much speaks for itself."

Mac appears to have an edge in that regard.

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okikio profile image
Okiki Ojo

I was just giving my opinion, but here we go.

Linux being open source doesn't make it more secure, open source means everyone can see the code including hackers etc...

Mac OS is seen as more secure but that doesn't mean it actually is more secure it , in truth Mac OS is just has a smaller percentage of the market that hackers don't really bother (but that means if a hacker actually tried Apple would have less experience and wouldn't have the systems in place, 9to5mac.com/2020/08/01/new-unpatch...).

Windows in my opinion has more experience dealing with hackers and viruses that it actually makes it a more secure choice.

Security is a set policies set in place to secure data and devices, and just based on the amount of experience Microsoft has I'd argue they have the better security.

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lorenzoblog profile image
Lorenzo World In Dev

In my opinion it's always better to have a third party antivirus that secure connections and file downloading.

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lorenzoblog profile image
Lorenzo World In Dev

Wow! Really nice research