A paper wallet, is a piece of paper where you write your private keys, which must be imported, allowing a user to validate the entire operation.
- Immune to computer viruses that steal from software wallets.
- Harder to use.
It's not. Paper wallets are still as susceptible to theft as a normal desktop wallet. The only difference it has is that the wallet itself is stored on paper and thus its exposure is lesser but their risk is roughly the same. You would still have to spend it securely and its to import it on a clean computer or on a computer that has never been online. It's not secure if its not generated and spent securely.- Immune to computer viruses that steal from software wallets.
- Harder to use.
Paper wallets are harder, sure. But they aren't that impossible. It's not hard to use it on a client, say Electrum. The importing and spending of it is rather fast.
Risk is roughly the same?
No it is not. Anything which provides offline, air gapped storage is lower risk than anything that does not. You can't dodge this by noting the "moments of insecurity" such as when a paper wallet is read in. There are ways around those risk factors.
A paper wallet is no less than writing down a private key. Since it is possible to store it in encrypted fashion, it may be more than just writing down a private key...
there are still risks, some shared with desktop wallets.
for example the risk of creating the paper wallet on a not-clean computer and having your private keys compromised. this is shared with desktop wallets.
after creating it, the risk is losing the wallet. it is a piece of paper after all, it can be lost, ruined if it is exposed to water, fire,...
and of course the risk of someone simply reading your key and using it
but each of these can be prevented as long as you are aware of the risk itself and the way to eliminate it.
No, a "paper wallet" is not a piece of paper. It might be, but it might also be engraved phrases on steel, or other materials. And there isn't necessarily just one copy in one location.
One more time. A paper wallet is simply writing down and storing private keys.