Microsoft claims that Windows 7 is the most secure operating system ever. However, results from recent tests done by security research firm Sophos contradicts Microsoft’s claim. Sophoslabs loaded a full release copy of Windows 7 on a clean machine, configured it to follow the system defaults for User Account Control (UAC) and did not load any anti virus software, to test how secure Windows 7 really is.

The lab took 10 unique samples of viruses and feed them to the Windows 7 machine, and the results were not pretty. According to Sophoslabs, “Windows 7 disappointed just like earlier versions of Windows. The good news is that, of the freshest 10 samples that arrived, 2 would not operate correctly under Windows 7.”

Chester Wisniewski of Sophos says “User Account Control did block one sample; however, its failure to block anything else just reinforces my warning prior to the Windows 7 launch that UAC’s default configuration is not effective at protecting a PC from modern malware.” He concludes by saying you still need to run anti-virus on Windows 7, the new OS is no cure for the virus blues.

It is a fact of life that if you are using Windows, any Windows – ME, XP, Vista or 7, you will need anti-virus. Without anti-virus and malware protection, you are basically sending out open invitation to every crook on the Internet.