Regarding secuity, I think the Internet is like driving, and we must be careful where we go. Linux is less prone to viruses, but the restricted permissions for other drives, which most distros impose, was a problem for me. Vista had them also when i used it, but that could easily overridden it.
Having used Windows while on the web for about 10 hours a day for over 10 years and only experiencing two viruses, and being the only user (and with the http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm file and default firewall) i did not see the need for more security.
But Linux has its place and potential, and i hope it gets better.
I have used Windows on the Internet since Windows 95. I likewise use the hosts file on Windows machines in addition to multiple levels of security such as firewalls, Microsoft’s Security Essentials, Norton or Avast, MalwareBytes, etc. I have pretty good sense where not to “drive” on the Internet. I don’t pick up viruses using all of that protection, but it imposes an unacceptable (to me) level of CPU overhead. Not to mention the time to administer updates, review scan logs, etc. It’s a pain in the neck. I would rather do something else. Worse, most people are not as attentive to security as I am; I know this because I have cleaned up infected systems for a lot of people over the years. I have battled viruses for 25 years, since the DOS era.
I finally decided there had to be a more convenient way to surf the web than using Windows which is a virus magnet. Linux has proven for me to be a reasonable alternative. I still use Windows sometimes, strictly offline. Online, I use only Linux. If I really want to surf dangerously, I can boot a diskless computer from an incorruptible Linux CD, such as Puppy Linux. If I ever suspected a virus, all I would have to do is turn off the computer and POOF! the virus is gone.
It seems to me that Linux should be pretty immune to most Windows viruses - it has different permissions, different binaries, and no Registry. Therefore I think Linux is more immune than simply “security through obscurity”. So far as I can find, most Linux-specific viruses don’t exist in the wild, and they still require the user to be duped into installing something.