How Windows 7 was able to build up its standing in the security community

For years when people would think about Windows based computers they would think about the lack of security. It became a running joke that if you were going to get a Windows computer then you must be ready for the influx of malware that would accompany that decision. And these jokes were made for good reason. For years Microsoft did not take the security of their operating system seriously. They would not make the appropriate adjustments that were known by other operating systems that would at least slow down the bad guys.

And that is what made people mad about the service. If you know the way that you are doing something is inherently insecure, why would you keep on doing it? You set your service up for potshots by your competitors when you do something like that. Microsoft claimed that they did it for two reasons, ease of use for the consumers and keeping with backwards compatibility. The argument was the more you made something secure, the more complexity you would introduce to the system. And also the more changes you made for security sake, the less chances you would have of past programs running on the same operating system. But now that more and more complicated pieces of malware are coming out of the woodwork, these arguments start to hold less water.

Turning the perception around

A lot of the security changes that we see in Windows 7 was actually first implemented in the Windows Vista version of the computer. While that is a good thing, the bad part is that Windows Vista implemented the features very badly. The public for the most part turned against it and a good amount of that same public switched back to Windows XP. That switch back made them very insecure again.

So with Windows 7, Microsoft took those same security features, added a few more, and relaunched them again with a better interface. Both the critics and the regular user were overjoyed by what they saw. It was a modern operating system that had the ability to be able to both have good security and a clean interface. Now when the security questions would pop up, it was less intrusive and more pleasing to the eyes and sensibilities.

Now people could see that Microsoft had taken security seriously on the operating system. And not only was security a first class concern on the operating system, it was also something that they wanted to make a pleasant experience. Most of the top security professionals now agree that Windows 7 is at least just as secure as Mac OS X and not that far away from being as secured as the Linux operating system. That is a huge jump in security quality in a little less than a decade.

When you look at Windows 7, you are looking at Microsoft finally taking security seriously. It took them a while to get the message but they finally did.