It's also a product of less Linux users running as root. Apply the Windows user mentality to Linux, I bet it would be just as much of a disaster.

Well stated. Conversely, running as a limited user account as a typical Linux user does works wonders with regards to Windows security. Any time a friend or family member approaches me to remove viruses or spyware from their Windows machine, I remove their account from BUILTIN\Administrators and add it to BUILTIN\Users, and they never experience malware problems again (and yes, I do follow up).