Bull. I've had XP for like 8 years and NEVER had updates, security, firewall etc. Just hijackthis and an occasional(every 6-9mo.) sweep for spyware etc. Like three times in the entire time I've had a compromise and I killed it in task manager and cleaned with hijackthis. The only time you get those viruses and junk is if you get popups(no blocker) that redirect you to some game or porn site with a trojan on it. Or if you have lousy friends that email you viruses. I use my laptop all day and have an always on connection and I never have a problem because I WATCH what the system is doing. If it slows down, I switch to task manager and kill the problem. I love linux, but it's like the Sony Playstation; even if it has problems it's got so much development for it that the ten perrcent of the things that I can't get linux to do means I HAVE to use XP. Of course I keep linux on disc in case my HD crashes. But if you're HD crashes or you get a blue screen that's not from the HD, it's usually your equipment, software, or conflicts with your configuration, all nobody's fault but your own.