I did not notice any posts like this, so hopefully this hasn't been discussed before...
I wanted to share my experiences, since I make my living in the computer world and I'm a Linux geek as you may or may not have noticed by the Linux tutorials...
For as long as I've been into computing, which goes back a very long time, I'd never dream of using Windows online anymore, because the level of experience it takes to understand all the complexities of the OS from a security stand point and apply some of them, goes way over the head of the average computer user and honestly, it's really a pain to stay on top of all the problems to try and stay safe, or keep your computer out of malware hell...
Granted there's a learning curve to Linux, but as far as staying safer out the box, no, Linux supplies you with better safety and security, above and beyond Windows without any user intervention!
You will certainly run across a lot of people that claim to have never had any problems in Windows, but then, what level of experience do they have to understand if they have never really had a problem, or if they're not facing one right now? Most users I see, base this off of, by what they are seeing and experiencing, meaning if the system seems to look and run ok, they think they have no problems...
Look at this article, granted it goes back 2 years, but statistics like these to this day are very real, I wouldn't be surprised if it was around 30%-40% of the entire world population infected today as we speak, it is literally that bad and believe me this is not a wild percentage I'm throwing out here too;
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/security/report-48-of-22-million-scanned-computers-infected-with-malware/5365So if you don't do a lot with your computer, or even if you do, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you check out Linux, there are hundreds of versions, so sooner or later you'll find something you like. Out the box, Linux is a safer OS then Windows and even to this day there is few, to if anything malware related in the wild for Linux, but with it being an Open Sourced system, updates will come fast for any problems and close the door before it causes much of any problems, or if any at all.
Also kiss Blue Screens of Death goodbye, no more needing too defrag your hard drive, application and system locks and freezes will be much rarer, no more messed up driver, system, registry or application corruption and Linux runs faster too! Plus it's easy to migrate the OS from an image backup to another computer, because Linux doesn't install drivers that are needed, that is particular to your hardware the way Windows does, so that image back up you made, can be put on any computer and get you back up and running FAST!
The only reason a person needs Windows is if you can't find any alternative applications that work in Linux, or you're a gamer, otherwise there's no excuses not to be using this system, plus the fact there is so much free software for Linux, it will make your head spin, that in itself for all the software junkies is reason enough to check it out!
There are several ways to go about this, but removing Windows off the computer is the best, then installing Linux and running a VM (Virtual Emulator), like Virtual Box under Linux, with Windows as the Guest OS on it. This way you now have your Windows you need for any applications you use, but it's running under the VM in Linux, which is the safest way to go about this, instead of running Windows on the computer and Linux in the VM under Windows.
CHEERS!
