No, no, and no. Macs are inherently safer because almost all apps will happily run in a Limited User Account, even that stinking QuickBooks.
WinXP is a remarkably stable OS, even more stable and corruption resistant than OS X Tiger, IF AND ONLY IF, it's run in a limited account. And there's the kicker, Intuit demands QuickBooks 2006 run as Administrator or Power User. Even Microsoft says don't waste your time with Power User.
And the average user runs as Admin because who knows how to beat QB into a user account? Well, almost no one. The instructions are in the Intuit database, if you've got a normal networked machine with workgroup joining, just modify the hive keys and skip the directory perm mods. I fergit the KB #, but search it for LUA sometime in mid December 2005. It woiks.
By the way, I know people who run Tiger as admin (they never created user accounts), and their computers are infested with the most amazing stuff. People, use the limited accounts. It's almost impossible to get into the OS files.
Here's where MS shares the blame. The "Certified for XP" means it'll run properly in the limited account, and nothing else. Even though Intuit products, QB and LaCert, must run as admin and open dozens of ports, MS still let them use this trademark. MS screwed up royally.
Bovine Excrement, spudsmaki!!! Tons of it!
Exactly WHAT "amazing stuff" has infested these "Tiger users" OS X computers? You are making this up as you go and revealing your ignorance of Macs.
Show us Mac users who have NEVER seen one, exactly what "amazing stuff" can currently infest our MAc OS X Tiger computers. Provide Chapter and Verse. I challenge you.
First of all the Admin account on a Mac, as it comes out of the box IS a user level account. There is one level above the Mac Admin account called "Root" that must be invoked (It is actually TURNED OFF in a default, just out of the box Mac) before you can do damage to the OS files. Windows users' computers start at the Admin level which is equivalent to Root on the Mac and can damage or destroy their OS files. To install software or modify protected areas even at Admin level on a Mac requires the user to provide a recognized administrator user name and password.
As to your "their computers are infested with the most amazing stuff" comment, you demonstrate you haven't got even a remote clue... There simply IS NOT anything to be infested with! As Walt Mossberg stated in his article:
As of today, there have been exactly two documented, successful pieces of malicious software -- viruses, trojan horses, worms -- that affected users of the Mac OS X operating system, since it was released in 2001. And these two failed to spread much, affecting probably a few dozen people, and doing no harm. I expect there to be a small number of additional Mac viruses this year.By contrast, there are over 100,000 reported viruses for Windows, some of which have affected millions of people and have done significant economic damage. As for spyware, I know of no documented cases on Mac OS X, while there are certainly thousands on Windows. These Windows viruses and spyware can't run on the Mac operating system, even on Macs powered by the same Intel processors used by Windows PCs.
In fact, Spud, the malicious software that Mossberg refers to are two trojans... malicious applications that were masquerading as something else and use psychology of the user as a means of spreading. In addition, the ONLY trojan that had the supposed potential to spread on its own took TWO Mac experts from Macworld and TWO security experts from Secunia SIX hours to get it to infect from one wide open Mac to another wide open Mac (both running in admin level) ... and even then it required the infectee to actually accept the package, unZip it, and install it!
So, Spud, exactly what is "infesting" these Macs your friends are running?