macOS vs. Windows: Which Desktop Operating System Is Safest?

(Credit: Shutterstock/Kaspars Grinvalds)

It's a tale as old as computing itself: Macs can't get viruses. It's not true, but a new survey by security site All About Cookies seems to indicate that far too many macOS users believe their systems are immune, even though they're security-conscious about other aspects of computing—at least, compared with Windows users.

The survey of 1,000 US adults, conducted in June, asked a series of security-related questions. For the most part, users of both major platforms seemed to have issues at about the same rate, from viruses or malware to overall computer-repair problems. But when asked about the tools they use to keep their computers safe, far more Windows users than Mac users have installed antivirus, firewalls, and anti-spyware tools.

More Mac users have embraced multi-factor authentication, ID theft protection, password generators, VPNs, and biometrics. Yet Windows users are more likely to jump on getting system updates installed ASAP.

The only tool where there's parity is password managers: 32% on both sides report using them. (That's still a tragically small amount.)

Again, these aren't numbers to crow about, since system updates are so important to maintain security. But many people are wary, since we've been burned before.

Back to that antivirus-usage dichotomy: All About Cookies also asked questions designed to find out which security and safety issues survey respondents have encountered on their systems. At the top of the list is that almost half of each OS group has contracted a virus.

The platform with the higher number of virus encounters? Mac users. That's right, the same group in which only 34% claim to install antivirus software. It's seriously time to rethink that position.

For more information from the survey, including details on the breakdown between users that feel safe on public Wi-Fi or use browser features that are convenient but pose potential security risks, read the full report at All About Cookies.

About Our Expert

Eric Griffith

Senior Editor, Features

My Experience

I've been writing about computers, the internet, and technology professionally since 1992, more than half of that time with PCMag. I arrived at the end of the print era of PC Magazine as a senior writer. I served for a time as managing editor of business coverage before settling back into the features team for the last decade and a half. I write features on all tech topics, plus I handle several special projects, including the Readers' Choice and Business Choice surveys and yearly coverage of the Best ISPs and Best Gaming ISPs, Best Products of the Year, and Best Brands (plus the Best Brands for Tech Support, Longevity, and Reliability).

I started in tech publishing right out of college, writing and editing stories about hardware and development tools. I migrated to software and hardware coverage for families, and I spent several years exclusively writing about the then-burgeoning technology called Wi-Fi. I was on the founding staff of several magazines, including Windows Sources, FamilyPC, and Access Internet Magazine. All of which are now defunct, and it's not my fault. I have freelanced for publications as diverse as Sony Style, Playboy.com, and Flux. I got my degree at Ithaca College in, of all things, television/radio. But I minored in writing so I'd have a future.

In my long-lost free time, I wrote some novels, a couple of which are not just on my hard drive: BETA TEST ("an unusually lighthearted apocalyptic tale," according to Publishers' Weekly) and a YA book called KALI: THE GHOSTING OF SEPULCHER BAY. Go get them on Kindle.

I work from my home in Ithaca, NY, and did it long before pandemics made it cool.

The Technology I Use

My first computer was a Laser 128, an Apple II-compatible clone with an integrated keyboard, matched with an eye-straining monochrome green monitor. I used it to type papers in college for other people for money...until I discovered the Mac SE in the college computer room. That changed my life. My first cellphone was a Samsung Uproar—the silver one with the built-in MP3 player from the Napster days (the pre-iPod era).

I use an iPhone 15 Pro hourly and an iPad Air infrequently (but I'm always in the market for a cheap Android tablet). I have a PlayStation 5 just to play Spider-Man, and several Windows machines, including a work-issued Lenovo ThinkPad. I talk to Alexa and Siri all day long. I do the majority of my computing on a 15-inch LG Gram laptop attached to a Thunderbolt hub to run a multi-monitor setup—I overdid it on the power needed to simply work from home.

I'm most at home in Microsoft Word after decades of writing there. More and more, I turn to services like Google Docs, using tools like Grammarly. I use Google's Chrome browser due to an addiction to several extensions I think I can't live without, but probably could. I use Excel extensively on data-intensive stories, but for chart creation, we've switched over entirely to using Infogram for interactive features that are hard to find elsewhere. I do a lot of graphics work for my stories, but limit myself to the free and amazing Paint.NET software to edit images.

I'm a firm evangelist for using the cloud for backup and syncing of files; I'm primarily using Dropbox, which has never failed me, but I also have redundant setups on Microsoft OneDrive, plus extra picture backups on Amazon Photos and iCloud. Why take chances? For entertainment, mine is a streaming-only household—my kid has never seen network TV and barely been exposed to commercials, thanks to Roku and Amazon Music. The house is peppered with smart speakers from Amazon for instant gratification and control of smart home devices like multiple Wyze cameras and Nest Protect smoke detectors. I've got accounts on all the major social networks, to my horror. I have a robot vacuum for each floor of the house. I want a 3D printer, but not sure what I'd use it for.

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