Even there are security loop holes with linux, it is the same with windows.
I do not see any major difference between these two.
However, linux systems perform well than its windows counterpart.
Security holes in linux can be fixed by anyone who knows it exists, but it cant be in windows. Thats what makes linux superior.
I would call linux superior. The fact that the it is open source can cause it's weakness also.
Vulnerabilities have to be discovered with Windows and OS X, with Linux one just has to look through the source of the latest release and find the vulnerability and exploit it until it is patched.
Each OS has it's place, each has it strengths and weaknesses, not one is superior to the other.
I enjoy Linux, have been using it since the early days of Red Hat before X11 was even part of the main installation. I was a command line junky back then, but I was also wearing the wrong color fedora too. (Geeks will understand)
Now I use Mac OS X and I like it because of it's unix backend, and I have my Windows in VM's for application specific stuff, mainly my Motorola programing software.
I would run either Fedora or Ubuntu on my MacBook Pro if it wasn't for the wife and her damn netflix (Linux guys/gals knows this headache) and our iPhones (iTunes)
Why do most companies use linux instead of windows then???
How many fortune 500 companies can you say run Linux.
Google and Apple we know don't run Windows.
Google runs it's own flavor of Debian, while well, we know what Apple runs.
The largest company in the US, the government runs Windows, that I know, I used to be a sysadmin when I was in the Army from 2001-2012 and the government has the largest contract with Microsoft.
Hackers have the same view as we do. Im sure a person could find a keyhole just as easily as a hacker, and fix it. All in all linux is MUCH safer than windows.
There is a saying, the safest and most secure computer is one which is powered off with nothing plugged into it.
The term Hackers, it makes me cringe when people say it as they really don't understand the meaning of a hacker anymore, but that is a different thread, on a different day.
Yes there are White Hats, Black Hats, and Grey Hats. Pick your hat and wear it, maybe you will switch hats one day, but all in all, we are all grey hats at heart.
If you truly think Linux is so much more secure then you should go to your bank and demand they switch all their data servers to Linux or you will switch banks until you find a linux compatible bank. Just kidding, had to bring the original topic back in somehow.
Linux is more stable, but not most secure. Out of the box, fresh install it is not the most secure os available, to make it the most secure you need to make it that way.
Hell a fresh install of windows is horrible when it come to security.
You want a secure out of the box solution, let me introduce you to: Lightweight Portable Security
http://www.spi.dod.mil/lipose.htm