Windows security in general is better than Linux security in general.Unless you are running Grsec/PaX but hey i do not believe you do that on desktop.
Also you can still run EMET on Windows.
Also you can still run EMET on Windows.
I feel like I know how to reduce the attack surface a bit more easily on linux client systems. Most OEM Windows installations are pretty bad, so I would want to install Windows myself, sans crapware, and with unneeded built in services, apps and hooks and so on removed. If the bootloader was locked, I'm not sure whether I could reinstall the Windows OS of my choosing. Maybe these products have less crap on them though, since the OS image comes directly from Microsoft.
I didn't mean to refer to situations other than personal clients used by me, and I don't really have an opinion about this in general, except maybe: It depends... :)
Maybe. Have they fixed UAC not being security boundary [1] if you are on a default administrator account? It's hard to take them seriously when most software for most users still runs effectively under 'root'.
[1] http://www.pretentiousname.com/misc/win7_uac_whitelist2.html
Can you elaborate on this or provide some sources?