On Security and Platform Wars

Anyone who has been following the tech industry for any amount of time knows that there is a platform war going on between Microsoft Windows and Apple's Macintosh Operating System. I have read article after article debating the merits of either one, and bashing the other, proclaiming the eventual death of one of the systems. Many times an author will proclaim "Macs are safer to use, but only because nobody uses them and it is only a matter of time before Macs get viruses because of all of the bugs in the OS".

I consider this statement to be complete and utter crap.

First of all, I agree that software is incredibly complex. I agree that no OS is completely bug free. I agree that Apple has a very small market share.

How can authors, many of whom have little technical experience, explain why there are no viruses for Mac OS X? They either use the small market share argument or the "it's only a matter of time" argument. Does anyone really even know why viruses are written? Some people say they are written for bragging rights within the hacker community. Some people assert that virus writers actually make money from companies. The truth is, nobody knows for sure.

From my observations since the release of Windows XP, and Mac OS X, I have come to the following conclusions.

1. Microsoft is a victim of their own success. They have nowhere to grow, and due to their size, true innovation is not possible without losing customers and revenue. Windows XP has been a disaster when it comes to consumer confidence. As a customer of mine put it "Windows XP is like an abusive relationship. You know it's bad and you need to get out, but you keep going back because it is familiar and comfortable".

2. Apple has an amazingly bright future. Apple has proven time and time again that it is a very nimble company that keeps cranking out amazing products. When the iPod came out, all of the "experts" proclaimed "Nobody is going to pay 400-500 dollars for an MP3 player!". Apple proved them wrong. The "experts" doubted Apple's retail store initiative because of Gateway's failure. Apple proved them wrong. The "experts" at one time said that Apple would best serve it's investors by closing it's doors and giving it's shareholders' money back. Apple proved them wrong...in a big way. Does anyone else see a pattern here?

For the grand finale.... Look at Windows Vista. The successor to Windows XP. If you look at the published features you will find that most of them, if not all, already exist in Mac OS X today. If recent history gives any sort of insight to the future, you will see more of Microsoft copying Apple, and Microsoft's new OS will be a collection of features that may or may not work well.

The next 2-3 years should be very interesting. I will be watching the situation very closely.