Microsoft: Windows 7 is more secure than XP SP3

According to foreign media reports, Microsoft today released the eighth edition of the Security Intelligence Report SIR 8 (Microsoft Security Intelligence Report v8). The report shows that Windows 7 RTM and Vista SP2 are Microsoft's most secure Windows clients to date.

Security Intelligence Report is a collection of information collected by Microsoft from the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool and information collected by Microsoft and third-party software. The survey period for this report is from June to December 2009.

The SIR 8 report shows that the infection rate of Windows 7 RTM and Vista SP2 is significantly lower than that of the previous version of Windows, and the 64-bit version (x64) of these two systems is more secure than the 32-bit version. (x86).

Microsoft said in the report: "Windows 7 RTM and Vista SP2 are the two system platforms with the lowest infection rates in the chart. The 64-bit version of Windows 7 RTM/Vista SP2 (both 1.4‰) is the lowest-infected system version, and the 32-bit version of Windows 7 RTM/Vista SP2 is less than half the infection rate of Windows XP SP3. ”

As can be seen from the above figure, the 64-bit version of Windows 7/Vista SP2 infection rate is only 1.4 & permil;, XP SP3 (only 32-bit version) is up to 7.0 & permil; 64-bit version of XP SP2 is also up to 4.5 & permil; The 32-bit version of Windows 7/Vista SP2 infection rates are 2.8 & permil; and 2.2 & permil; respectively.

Microsoft explained: "The 64-bit version of the system adds security features such as Kernel Patch Protection and Data Execution Prevention. Therefore, 64-bit versions of Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 have lower infection rates than 32-bit versions.