Buy Microsoft's Vista because its security is less bad than XP's

Now there's a compelling reason to buy! If you're not using the Vista operating system from Microsoft, friends and family who got conned or forced into using it are telling you how lucky you truly are. I've been told there are nothing but troubles when trying to get your new operating system to communicate with your peripherals and run your much-needed software.

Microsoft really wants you to buy Vista, though, so they're offering some new information to help you make your buying decision. On the Windows Vista Security Blog, the company is saying that Vista's security is less bad than XP's security. Microsoft is boasting that in its first year, Vista only required you to do nine patches for security issues. In the first year, XP had 26 patches. Also in the first year, Vista had only 36 fixed and 30 unfixed vulnerabilities, while XP had 68 fixed and 54 unfixed vulnerabilities.

Does all this make you feel good? Microsoft is saying that Vista is not secure and has multiple vulnerabilities that haven't been fixed. But buy it anyway, because it's not as bad as XP was one year into distribution. Not exactly a good marketing tool....

Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.