Macs have their own share of holes and bugs, I think it's just MS get more press because they have a much larger installed base and aren't exactly everyone's favorite company. nickedshield is right; WinXP's biggest problem is the integrated Internet Explorer and Outlook Express. I'd recommend Mozilla Firefox (as I'm sure many people here are) - it's free, and doesn't have nearly the security problems IE does. Using common sense on the Internet (like just turning it off when you're not using it), installing Anti-spyware and Anti-virus software are your best defense - Mac or PC.