Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      MultiChoice is working on a wholesale overhaul of DStv

      10 July 2025

      Spam call epidemic: operators say their hands are tied

      10 July 2025

      Britehouse unit breaks free from NTT Data

      10 July 2025

      Samsung’s bet on folding phones faces major test

      10 July 2025

      OpenAI to launch web browser in direct challenge to Google Chrome

      10 July 2025
    • World

      Grok 4 arrives with bold claims and fresh controversy

      10 July 2025

      Bitcoin pushes higher into record territory

      10 July 2025

      Cupertino vs Brussels: Apple challenges Big Tech crackdown

      7 July 2025

      Grammarly acquires e-mail start-up Superhuman

      1 July 2025

      Apple considers ditching its own AI in Siri overhaul

      1 July 2025
    • In-depth

      Siemens is battling Big Tech for AI supremacy in factories

      24 June 2025

      The algorithm will sing now: why musicians should be worried about AI

      20 June 2025

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025
    • TCS

      TCS | Connecting Saffas – Renier Lombard on The Lekker Network

      7 July 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E4: Takealot’s big Post Office jobs plan

      4 July 2025

      TCS | Tech, townships and tenacity: Spar’s plan to win with Spar2U

      3 July 2025

      TCS+ | First Distribution on the latest and greatest cloud technologies

      27 June 2025

      TCS+ | First Distribution on data governance in hybrid cloud environments

      27 June 2025
    • Opinion

      In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

      30 June 2025

      E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

      30 June 2025

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CambriLearn
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » In-depth » Mac vs Windows: which really is safer?

    Mac vs Windows: which really is safer?

    By The Conversation12 August 2015
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp

    mac-windows-640

    During the 2000s, Apple ran a hugely successful advertising campaign for its line of Macintosh desktop computers. The ads poked fun at some of the perceived bugbears of the Windows-based PCs of the era compared to the Mac.

    One recurring theme of these ads was the greater vulnerability of Microsoft’s PCs to viruses.

    The perception that Macs are safer to use than PCs persists in some quarters to this day. But is it the case that Apple’s latest OS X Yosemite is more secure than the newly-released Windows 10 from Microsoft?

    Whatever the technical vulnerabilities of the two systems, the historical lack of malware targeting Apple systems was at least in part due to Apple’s own lack of market share.

    Definitive statistics for the market share of operating systems are hard to come by, but one useful estimate is available from the server traffic records of Wikimedia (the non-profit organisation that runs Wikipedia).

    In April 2009 (the earliest date from which records are readily available) nearly 90% of traffic came from computers running Windows, compared to only 6% for Mac. By July 2015, Windows had dropped to 41,7% and Mac to 5,4%. Most of the rest now comes from smartphones and tablets running Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android.

    So back in 2009, Windows represented a far larger target than Mac for profit-seeking virus and malware authors. While that is still the case today, the relative payoffs have changed substantially. Mac users tend to be wealthier than average and are likely to be more heavily concentrated in wealthier developed countries, which may attract malware authors to Macs.

    Over the years, both Microsoft and Apple have taken many measures to reduce the risks from malware. Both devote considerable time and resources to removing security-related faults in their own software and preventing the introduction of new ones.

    Microsoft has disclosed information about its Security Development Lifecycle, both to encourage confidence and to promote the development of more secure software across the industry. Apple is much less forthcoming about the specifics of its internal security efforts.

    However, security bugs are still being discovered in released versions of both OS X and Windows on a regular basis. What has changed for the better is the ease and speed with which security fixes to software are distributed and installed.

    Microsoft’s policy relating to the disclosure of security flaws says it will publicly reveal a vulnerability, even without a fix, if it becomes aware the vulnerability is being exploited. Apple’s policy is to never comment on security faults until they have been fixed.

    Both companies have also introduced a number of features that make it harder for bugs to be exploited to allow attackers to take control of systems.

    Perhaps the biggest change to the security of the two major desktop operating systems is through the combination of app stores, signed applications and “sandboxing”. In combination, these features go a long way to make sure that the only software running on OS X or Windows is:

    • Written by an identifiable developer.
    • Audited by Microsoft or Apple before being available from their app store.
    • “Sandboxed” so that it can only perform the actions it legitimately needs to, rather than having full access to everything on the system.

    Aside from the security implications, app stores have commercial implications. Only apps approved by Apple or Microsoft can be sold through them, and those companies take a cut of any sales.

    These walled gardens are of concern if you believe in the “freedom to tinker”. But they do significantly reduce both the potential for malware to make its way onto systems, and the harm such malware can do if they somehow get through.

    The technical details of the Windows and the OS X app stores and sandboxing models are slightly different to each other, although the end results are reasonably similar.

    But there is a straightforward way to bypass these protections: many users need the ability to run their older applications, so both operating systems provide mechanisms to install and run non-sandboxed code.

    Successful attacks on non-sandboxed applications leave the rest of the user’s computer vulnerable. The existence of a mechanism to install and run any program downloaded from the Internet also gives malware authors a “social engineering” attack — in a nutshell, tricking users into running downloaded software that contains malware.

    Windows 10 has a new sandboxing model for corporate applications called Device Guard that will make it harder for unauthorised applications to be executed.

    It is currently restricted to the Enterprise version of Windows 10 because its mechanisms for approving older applications to run are too unwieldy for home users. But, over time, some version of the Device Guard system will likely filter down to the home editions of Windows, making life more difficult for malware authors.

    The verdict
    So, which is the safer operating system to use? For what it’s worth, I use both Windows and OS X (as well as Linux, Android and occasionally iOS), and I see no particular reason to choose between them on security grounds. I share the concerns of David Glance about Windows 10’s privacy policies, but that’s not strictly a security issue.

    All operating systems are vulnerable to hackers, but the risks can be reduced if you adopt basic computer security measures. These include installing anti-malware software and installing operating system and application security updates promptly.

    And there are other risks you face regardless of the operating system you choose. Web browsers and plug-ins, other applications and the security practices of the websites that you visit are agnostic to whether you’re on Windows or Mac.The Conversation

    • Robert Merkel is lecturer in software engineering at Monash University
    • This article was originally published on The Conversation


    Apple Microsoft
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleTalkCentral: Ep 131 – ‘ABCs’
    Next Article New name, old Google problems

    Related Posts

    AI gold rush propels Nvidia to record $4-trillion market cap

    9 July 2025

    What Steve Jobs feared is now the tech industry’s reality

    9 July 2025

    Apple is said to be eyeing Formula 1 broadcast rights

    9 July 2025
    Company News

    AI in project management: a new era of efficiency and transformation

    10 July 2025

    Samsung unfolds the future with thinnest, lightest Galaxy Z Fold yet

    9 July 2025

    Huawei supercharges South African SMEs with over 20 new eKit products

    9 July 2025
    Opinion

    In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

    30 June 2025

    E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

    30 June 2025

    South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

    17 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.