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For example, the default settings for Microsoft Windows is to actually set up an Two Types of Administrative accounts, plus allows for Limited accounts, this is XP home I'm talking about. Now, the problem is that the most common Login type for most people, the one used for the web and other things, is the second of the 2 Administrative accounts, it allows for damn near full access to system files and settings. The 1st Adminstrative account allows even more access, but is only accessable in Safe Mode. The limited account is restricted even more, where you can't access much of system settings and you can't install programs. The problem is that by default, you have an Administrative account, for convenience I guess, so when you browse the interent, your entire system could be open to a variety of attacks that will cause havoc and a large amount of damage in a short amount of time. I don't know about Macs, and they may be more secure in architecture as well as less use, I don't know.
Now, Linux systems, which I do know about, are inherently more secure, even if as popular as Windows. This is because, as default, more times than not, you have only read only access to everything, system and otherwise, except for your home folder and its personal settings, like themes and program settings. So when browsing the internet, hackers and virus, trojan, and spyware, writers will have a harder time to find ways to crack your system. This is not to say that it is impossible, but just being a little more secure can mean a lot. It would be extremely difficult to attack the Kernel, for example, with a virus, if they also have to crack the root password to do it. A difficulty that Windows hackers do not have. If you want to secure you Windows system, my suggestion would be to set up a limited account, install Firefox as you default browser with access by all users, and use that limited account for web browsing.
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