Granted, Windows XP has a built-in firewall, and most people used anti-virus software at the time. Still, running in a completely unprotected state (intentionally or accidentally) was much easier ...

How long do you think it takes an unprotected Windows XP box to fall foul to malware? To be clear, this is a machine sitting idle, no internet browsing required, just connected to the internet.

McAfee, to say the least, had its fair share of problems Wednesday when a buggy antivirus software update caused computers running Windows XP to shut down and experience serial reboots.