Microsoft
In late 2009, Microsoft released its latest operating system, Windows 7, putting itself on the firing line for future malware attacks.
Overall, Windows 7 provides a more secure environment, but there is still room for improvement. When the first few versions of Windows XP came out, there were some much more serious issues than those seen with Windows 7—and many were fixed with Service Pack 2.
Microsoft has already announced the first service pack for Windows 7, due to reach beta stage in July and full release later in the summer. However, few major adjustments are expected, with the bulk of the pack comprising the numerous security fixes already released as part of the Patch Tuesday program.
Apple
Apple's release of Mac OS X v10.6, or Snow Leopard, brought the tacit acknowledgement by Apple that malware does affect its platform when it introduced rudimentary anti-malware protection. The Snow Leopard build included a version of Adobe's Flash Player software that contained a known vulnerability, and one that had been previously patched by Adobe.
Because Adobe Flash vulnerabilities are widely targeted for exploit attacks from malicious or compromised websites, this could have opened up users to attack when they rightly believed they were protected.
Anyone can be tricked by subtle scams, and running quality, up-to-date anti-malware software is by far the safest option.
A few months later in June 2010, Apple issued a fix to protect against a backdoor Trojan horse that allowed hackers to gain remote control over users iMac or MacBook.
All of these security issues hammers home the message to Mac users that they cannot afford to depend on their operating system's reputation for safety.