OH BOY! 'nother mac vs pc debate!
Where did you get that from? It sounds to me like some "data" invented by another MAC user to justify their usage, because I certainly don't spend any time performing any of those functions.
I run both OS'es, daily. My windows machine needs virus checking software on it, period. There's no getting around it. And, despite being behind a pretty hefty firewall, running spyware detection stuff is a good idea, at least weekly. Its not like these two things devour my every waking moment, but, they do need to be attended to regardless. And god forbid you try and run a Windows machine without a router in front of it though I'll say that the addition of a basic firewall in the OS is one of those "about time" things.
On the Mac? No virus checking. No spyware checking, and very very very few popups from web pages.
A bit of a falsehood here, while the Mac community is certainly much smaller, Macs are based on FreeBSD Unix, and thus, one of the tougher ones to hack into anyways. Its not that they are too bored, or there's not enough machines to make it fun, its simply its far harder to crack a Unix based security model than it is the Windows one. Its a fundamental difference in security models between the two OS'es. MS has gone to great lengths to change its basically flawed "I'm not connected to anything else" model of the early 90s to a more secure environment, but, it still has a ways to go.
Day by day running of both? The Mac is less work, there's no two ways around it, whether you deal with your spyware/virus checks daily, weekly or monthly, the point JD makes is sound, you don't have to do it on a Mac. And part of that -is- due to there being a much smaller base of Macs to mess with, but, its also because its simply harder to crack.
Its pointless to focus on which one is easier to use, there's valid things about both sides, there's great software on both sides. I will say one thing though, I spent a lot of money and time trying to get high end digital recording done on a PC and it didn't pan out. With that, keep in mind I've been building and using PCs for 20 years, I know how to make one go, but, digital audio? Nope. Dropouts. Also worth noting, I'm talking about multitrack stuff, 24 tracks and up. What led to my purchase of a monster G4 a couple of years ago was that I can easily deal with a 48 track recording on a 2 year old G4. I also do all my video production on a Mac now as well, for similiar reasons, and better software.
Given your championing of the Spirit underdog, I'd figure you'd have been all over the Macs... (just teasing you here). Macs and PCs are both fine, they both get the job done and uninformed shots at the other side are a bit of a waste of time. I like both systems, for differing reasons.