eli5: Why do computer operating systems have lots of viruses and phone operating systems don’t?
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There are basically 3 major ‘computer’ operating systems that most people might encounter today. MacOS and Linux are based on UNIX which goes back to the late 1960s and was originally made for big room-sized computers shared by many people. This means that there are some fundamental restrictions about what an ordinary user can do that might affect other users or the system as a whole. Windows came along later and a lot of design decisions were made to be deliberately opposite to UNIX. Windows was also based around the idea of a single computer per user who could do anything on the system- security features were ‘added later’. Windows has also always made huge efforts to be backwards compatible with older software on newer versions than other systems.
Most phones are either Android (Linux based) or iPhone (essentially MacOS based)- both UNIX. They also benefit from nearly 50 years’ experience securing UNIX computers in other environments and not having to be compatible with other/older software. As others have pointed out, applications are typically installed from a central app store where they can be scanned by the manufacturer. Both iPhone and Android now have tight permissions at an app level that were never thought of decades ago – think permissions for notifications, for microphone etc.
Fundamentally mobile phones are based on a more secure system, with decades of experience in securing that system and not having to support apps and uses that make it insecure. Most computers you encounter don’t have all of these advantages.
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