“It has been reported that cars had a defective braking system.”

So why don’t reporters do this and what can be done about it? The first thing to do is to politely ask. Email when you can and find out. I’ve been told by one or two that they consider the OS to be tangential and unimportant. This is essentially the same thing as the second excuse, which is that they really don’t think OS matter and are openly bigoted in Microsoft’s favor. IDG people respond rudely, others do better. You would think that such a basic fact would be part of any article about Windows security problems but Microsoft has worked hard to influence prominent reporters. Give reporters a breath of fresh air, they like it.

Successful letters are posed as a question, contain careful research about the specific problem and the general issue, and point out that it’s not fair to call Windows problems “computer problems”. Ask them why they called the Windows X a “computer X”. Tell them X is a Windows only problem with links to various security sites that mention W32, XP, Vista/Windows 7 and no others. Then tell them it’s not fair to condemn the entire computer industry because Microsoft can’t fix their stuff. You might also link to reliable estimates of Windows compromise and the costs. The unavoidable story is that only Microsoft has problems and that everyone using Windows is greatly inconvenienced, if not robbed.

You can’t prescribe one universal brand for a system that’s not proprietary… and that’s OK.