What kind of pain? I've installed about thirty copies, including some upgrades from 98 and ME, without any significant problems. Most of the hangups have been with older machines that had been infected with spyware.
Even these have not presented any real problem.
On some machines I've replaced the Windows firewall with free ZoneAlarm, because it controls outgoing internet access and is easy to use.
i'm with you on this. i have boxes with AMDs i like them but i don't know why they would be any more secure. is there any reason with that.
SP2=crap, crap and more crap. i must say my surfing pool is pretty small so i don't get into waters filled with sharks. security hasn't been a big problem for me.
fixing a MS computer for others have been pretty easy.
1.run>msconfig>uncheck all startups
2.deselect auto update from microsoft
3.tell them to stop surfing porn and downloading pirated software.
IMO:the reason linux has less security problems.
1.less of a target
2.smarter users(aviod websites and downloads that can hurt them)
3.they don't need pirated software