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Come on. In recent Linux distros it is very simple task. My last ubuntu install took about 20 minutes and zero intervention on my side.

Personally I think it is pretty easy to set up a Linux install, certainly easier than Windows but the average user thinks otherwise and won't even touch a Windows install.

How does separate root account eliminate the propagation of malware to another machine?

As long as user is able to use internet, malware can spread.

True but you aren't really talking about viruses anymore then. Without root privileges they can't infect binaries and take over the system. A separate root account alone doesn't eliminate all malware vectors but saying it doesn't help stop the spread of viruses is naive.

The problem you do not see is that you do not to take over the entire system to turn it into spambot. All you need is the ability to send emails, which is something usually allowed on user level access.

Tell me how you can change smtpd settings without being root? Tell me why you would have a smtpd server with ports open to the outside running on your desktop in the first place. Like I said before privilege separation is one piece to security but it doesn't solve everything. Opening up your machine to the outside with unneccessary services is your own fault and cannot be mitigated with simple privilege separation.

Average user can get "security update by email from his distro vendor" and install it. This is how malware really works these days.

Again I admit this can happen but there is nothing that can really mitigate this kind of attack although to really have any kind of affect you would have to have a spambot already to send these emails. It's a pretty tricky attack on Linux in the first place though considering all updates are through a central repository and packages are in different formats for different distributions.

What are you going to grep?

Antivirus software uses signatures to detect viruses. Virus writers use all kinds of techniques to circumvent detection. It's a lot harder to circumvent detection when the exploit is in plain text format.

I don't think it is difficult to see why Windows is so easily owned compared to other operating systems. The necessecity of running as administrator because of backwards compatibility makes it low hanging fruit for crackers. Just visiting a web page with a Windows XP machine can lead to the entire operating system being taken over because a single flaw in the client is turned in root access without any privilege escalation necessary. Tricking users into installing software is one thing but automated root access is something only Windows gives up so easily. A lot more user interaction is required in Linux to install and propogate malware. I will say that Vista has gotten a lot better in this regard but the fact that Vista is a dud and many people and organizations are avoiding it altogether isn't making Window's problems a thing of the past any time soon.