Coincidentally, it was also the era with 37 ie toolbars and constantly having to clean out the infected family pc every week only to find it infected the next day. Definitely the fun times.
I would have totally taken away admin and maxed UAC. "Why can't I install this Ralphy?" "Because it's a virus!"
Personally, I like the choice of app stores and installing anything or installing a third party app store.
There are three main reasons for this, don't underestimate any of them: generally more technically literate to make the choice to use macOS, unix and DE design, and small target for malware makers.
