• Viruses replicate quickly.
  • All right, Windows does that.
• Viruses use up valuable system resources, slowing down the system as they do so.
  • Well, Windows does that, too.
• Viruses will, from time to time, trash your hard disk
  • Hmm... Windows does that, too.
• Viruses are usually carried, unknown to the user, along with valuable programs and systems.
  • *sigh* Windows does that, too...
• Viruses will occasionally make the user suspect their system is too slow (see 2) and the user will buy new hardware.
  • Yes, that's with Windows, too.

This seems like overwhelming evidence that Windows actually is a virus. There are, however, some fundamental differencies:

Viruses are well supported by their authors, run on most systems, their programme code is fast, compact and efficient and they tend to become more sophisticated as they mature.

Therefore, Windows is NOT a virus!