This is actually a good point, and something I've been wondering about too. What changed between the 90s and now, that Microsoft didn't get blamed for malware on Windows, but Google/Apple would be blamed now for malware on their devices? It seems that the environment today is different, in the sense that if (widespread) PCs only came into existence now, the PC makers would be considered responsible for harms therefrom (this is a subjective opinion of course).

Assuming this is true (ignore if you disagree), why is that? Is it that PCs never became as widespread as phones (used by lots of people who are likely targets for scammers and losing their life savings etc), or technology was still new and lawmakers didn't concern themselves with it, or PCs (despite the name) were still to a large extent "office" devices, or the sophistication of scammers was lower then, or…? Even today PCs are being affected by ransomware (for example) but Microsoft doesn't get held responsible, so why are phones different?

Windows 95 (and patronage) had become a shitshow. It’s easy to forget how much time us tech types were spending “fixing” uncle’s PC that somehow got malware on it. How we touted Linux as an escape from the hellscape of crapware.

It was into this void that the “everything seems new” iPhone stepped and ventured out in a different course. I’m neither speaking for or against apples normalization of an App Store as a primary source of updates, just recalling the way things were, and positing that Apple was trying a different approach that initially offered a computing platform that wasn’t the hellscape that MS platform was quickly becoming.

What changed is that Apple made the masses familiar with the concept of installing software only from a store with a vetting process. For short, the walled garden. That was mostly an alien thing in the world of software. All of us grew with the possibility of getting an installer and install it whenever we wanted. There were some form of protections against piracy but nothing else.

Once Apple created the walled garden every other company realized how good it could be for their bottom lines and attempted to do the same thing.

So, to answer your question, Microsoft got blamed for viruses and made fun of but there wasn't a better way in the mainstream. There is one now.

PCs will resist this trend for a while because it's also mainstream that they are used to do work. Many people use a PC every day with some native application from a company they have a direct contract with. For example: accounting software. Everybody can add another example from their own experience. Those programs don't come from the Windows store and it will be a long term effort to gatekeep everything into the store or move them into a web browser.

The .NET MAUI technology we had a post about yesterday is one of the bricks that can build the transition.

I always blamed Microsoft for Windows insecurity. But seriously, Windows did not have any vetting process for apps and apps didn't really have access to money. Google's problem is that they claim Android is a secure way to do banking but it isn't.