Windows- Un/Stable + Un/Secure?

[Iandefor]

Just curious- in your experience, How stable/secure is Windows?

I've seen a lot of discussion about the relative security/stability of Windows and seen a lot of wildly varying opinions. I'd appreciate discussion on the merits/problems of Windows be taken elsewhere; keep this thread just on your personal experience.

Thank y'all!

[aysiu]

Am I the only one not seeing poll options?

[Iandefor]

Am I the only one not seeing poll options? No. The poll didn't post... my error. Original post has been modified accordingly.

[GoA]

I don't see the poll but here's my answer: stable and secure. Haven't had any problems with it IF I don't tune it up TOO much. Regular updates, decent firewall/antivirus and good device drivers without big overclocks and it is very stable. I can also brake Ubuntu so not a single one operating system is completely stable and secure if users can just use it.

EDIT: And there shall always be errors in programming language because humans make it and it just is normal for humans to make mistakes. And these cause errors in every system.

[DrFunkenstein]

1. I'm really getting tired of all this windows this, windows that in the ubuntu forums. Why this preoccupation with windows? It's simply amazing. I've never seen this kind of obsession with windows on any other linux related forum.
2. Personal experiences don't mean anything. Windows being stable or unstable for one person doesn't say anything about how stable Windows is in general and the same holds true for security.
[/rant]

P.S.: It wasn't my intention to single out or attack the OP, he just happened to be the nearest "victim".

[aysiu]

When I was an idiot user, it was insecure. When I got smarter, it was very secure.

XP is extremely stable, the most stable OS I've seen. 2000 is pretty stable, too, but I hate that version of Windows. ME was the most unstable. '98 had okay stability, as did '95. Never had any stability problems with DOS.

[Iandefor]

1. I'm really getting tired of all this windows this, windows that in the ubuntu forums. Why this preoccupation with windows? It's simply amazing. I've never seen this kind of obsession with windows on any other linux related forum.
2. Personal experiences don't mean anything. Windows being stable or unstable for one person doesn't say anything about how stable Windows is in general and the same holds true for security.
[/rant]

P.S.: It wasn't my intention to single out or attack the OP, he just happened to be the nearest "victim". It's all right :-D.

1. I sort of am getting tired of it, too. But I've heard a lot wildly varying opinions in discussions on Windows' security, so I got curious about the general forumgoer's opinions on it.

EDIT: I forgot to put my own impressions in!

Windows 9x wasn't that stable to me, but ME was by far the least stable of 9x, and it wasn't at all secure. Windows XP was more stable, but you needed to be intelligent with how you used it.

[jerome bettis]

they both suck for different reasons. in my experience, i'd say windows xp is just about as unstable as ubuntu. they both work solid most of the time, but every once in a while something goes awry. you'll have that though, no big deal. however .... hardware dection ubuntu gets the nod!!! how amazing is that? notice i didn't just say linux, cause the rest of them can eat it.

security wise ubuntu is pretty safe. i don't have any ports open and i don't have any firewall, av software any of that. window xp, i went to a porn site once and had to reformat. i should be able to do that without having to setup anything extra lol

windows has it's target market, so does linux. anything that can make one man 26 billion dollars must do something right. i love these linux zealots that just hate because they haven't talked to anyone in 6 months.

[fuscia]

using ME was like dating heidi fleiss; definitely unstable,
not very secure, but lots of fun.

[briancurtin]

stability wise, i have found XP to be somewhat stable, but not rock solid. i got a pretty good amount of BSODs on my laptop before i just kicked windows right the hell out. before my string of failures, i never really had many stability issues.

security-wise, i didnt find myself having trouble with spyware and viruses because i have at least half of a brain, possibly more. the weekly adaware scan picked up a few pieces of garbage here and there but nothing major, mostly tracking cookies. i used the BlackICE firewall from ISS and that kept me pretty secure, but i noticed a whole lot in my firewall logs. never used the windows firewall for more than a few days i think. i dont use windows on my personal machine, havent for 8 months, so when i use XP at work i dont care at all about security, its not my job. i do my work, do my research, click on whatever i need to get things done and i havent experienced anything bad. i just dont like the operating system enough to use it on a personal-use level.

[bjweeks]

Windows is secure for me but I got my share of blue screens (creative sucks ***). ubuntu wins on both tho.