Google ditches Windows after security scare

Google is refusing to let new employees use Windows PCs over fears about its security.

New recruits are given the choice of running Mac OS X or Linux PCs, while many existing staff are migrating from Windows, according to a report in the Financial Times. The move follows the high profile attacks on Google at the end of last year, in which a hole in Internet Explorer was exploited by Chinese hackers.

“We’re not doing any more Windows,” a Google employee told the FT. “It is a security effort.”

Linux is open source and we feel good about it. Microsoft we don’t feel so good about

“Many people have been moved away from [Windows] PCs, mostly towards Mac OS, following the China hacking attacks,” said another unnamed Google worker. “Linux is open source and we feel good about it. Microsoft we don’t feel so good about.”

Employees requiring a Windows PCs for tasks such as software testing are now required to seek high-level permission. “Getting a new Windows machine now requires CIO approval,” a company employee claimed.

Google is, of course, currently developing its own alternative to Windows, Chrome OS. The lightweight OS is little more than a web browser that is heavily reliant on internet services, such as Google Docs, Gmail and Reader.

The company eventually wants its 10,000 employees to be running on the home-made OS. “A lot of it is an effort to run things on Google product,” a Google source told the FT. “They want to run things on Chrome.”