Windows versus Mac OS

I just set up a virtual machine with Windows XP on my Apple MacBook. I've been using Linux since the mid-90s (and more recently, Mac OS X), and although I have used Windows at work in the past, I never actually had to go through the chores of installing and managing a Windows box myself.
The installation was a snap, but the trouble began when Windows really booted for the first time. So that is roughly the same point where so many normal consumers are when they take their shiny new computer out of the box, plug it in, and turn it on.
I was immediately warned by a yellow balloon in the lower right corner that my system may be at risk. The system insisted that I should turn on automatic updates, and install some anti-virus software. A colleague pointed me to avg, which was helpful, but before I settled down to do what I meant to do when I decided I needed windows (visiting a web site with Internet Explorer), I spent several hours boiler plating my Windows virtual machine, all the while feeling scared, like prey being hunted, as if the predatory dangers of malware and viruses could infect me any time until I secured everything completely.

So this led to the following epiphany:

The first thing you do when you use a new Mac, is get to work.
The first thing you do when you use Windows, is get to worry.