Be warned!

Jimsokay · Jan 30, 2006

Well said... especially the last line.

It's always funny how people who don't use Macs seem to "know" so much about them.

21 years of Macs and not a single virus, Trojan Horse, spyware etc. My PC is no longer on-line

after I realized how vulnerable every business data file, every image was. All my files are cross platform so I able to switch between platforms as I wish.

That said I do know people that have no problems with their PC's, but the majority of users are not like them.

Windows wins hands down for playing games though.

RichSnyder said:
No it wouldn't. The problem with most PC viruses is that everyone
is running as Administrator equivalent so when they click on
malicious code, bad things happen right away. With a Mac on OS X,
you don't run as a priviledged user but instead have to
authenticate when you want to install software, etc.

You can do a similar setup with Windows XP by running as a
non-priviledged user and then logging into a separate account with
Admin rights to install software. This is usually too much of a
PITA, so nobody does it.

Viruses are certainly possible on a MAC as no OS is 100% secure,
but it should be fairly obvious to anyone that has used both
platforms which is more secure.

--
Jim

Sue2404 · Jan 30, 2006

I appreciate the sense in all the comments about mac's not being so vulnerable but it's a pretty hefty expense to change over just to avoid the risk of a virus! Even if I were about to get a new system (which I'm not because this is relatively new and works really well - touch wood!) the sheer cost of replacing s/ware would be prohibitive - I'm sure most pc users feel the same.
--
Sue
http://www.suewilson.co.uk

CIASpook · Jan 30, 2006

...have everyone switch to Macs because it's impossible for it to be hacked. There will never ever be a virus on a Mac.

That is, until some punk 14 y.o. kid gets mad at Steve Jobs. Or enough people own Macs that the people that create a virus will get a "return on their investment" in ruining people's work.

Windows does not have a problem with security because they don't know what they are doing or they are sloppy. They have a problem with security because they are a target.

But, as long as Non-Windows OS continues to fail in making any significant increase in market share, they'll be safer. Not because they are better, but because even bad people have priorities.

njdevil1 said:
Ive never, ever had to worry about viruses. With the release of
new Intel based imacs, it makes it that much more attractive for
users to switch.

--
http://www.pbase.com/DigitalCMH

lamesalegend · Jan 30, 2006

Thats simply not true any unix based system is far more secure than the current windows offering.

And most people that talk about not switching because of software, don't know how much software already comes on a Mac.

Annoying names, but to list a few -

iWeb - (instant website builder with plenty of cool templates for putting up a blog/gallery quickly)

iTunes - music management

iPhoto

Appleworks - mini Office

QuickBooks - Powermacs, powerbooks Quicken on imacs/ibooks

iMovie

iDVD for creating DVDs

Garageband - mini Protools

Mail

Addressbook

plus many more that i can't see right now.

but the fact is that there's lots of specialized easy to use software already on the computer. The cool thing about most of the porgrams is the user interface is similar so some one familiar with iPhoto will find iTunes very easy to learn.

name a program you currently use (nonPro) and there's probably an equivalent program already on the Mac preinstalled.

BGV · Jan 30, 2006

I can completely understand that. I beta a lot of MS software. This package isn't half bad. I believe you can still run it in conjuntion with your existing firewall/anti-virus. Of course, you'll be scanning your computer for viruses with two different pieces of software...which couldn't hurt (on paper, at least).

--
B R E N T / N I K O N D 7 0
http://www.pbase.com/brentgv
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/userphotos?id=85162

CIASpook · Jan 30, 2006

...is concerned about not switching because of non-pro software, they are being silly. Non-pro software is usually either freeware or very cheap.

And yes, Unix is more secure. But if you think hackers won't figure it out, they will. They are pretty clever little basturds. But there is no market for it. Hackers seek to do damage that is visible. They are technology terrorists. In real life, if you're going to strap bombs to yourself, you do it at schools, the mall, places where a lot of people gather. You don't drive out to the country and run into some guy's barn. Microsoft Windows is everywhere. So much so that some stupid little punk can write up some malicious code and make the evening news. If he did the same on a Mac, it'd probably not even make news on any website outside of McAffe or Symantec saying they've fixed it.

I've only gotten a virus twice in the 14 years I've been using Windows based PCs. And that was because both times I opened attachments. The first time, I knew better. The 2nd time, it came from a friend who is more careful that I am so when I got his e-mail, I trusted it. Too bad he didn't send it. Bleh.
--
http://www.pbase.com/DigitalCMH

BGV · Jan 30, 2006

First of all, even though I am a Windows user and prefer it over the Mac OS, especially hardware wise, it is true that Mac OS is more stable; MSFT built IE into the Windows core. That's the true mistake.

On the software bundling comment: Microsoft gets in trouble whenever it wants to install its own software on the OS. Because only 2% of the OS world is Mac OS, nobody cares if Jobs and Co. decide to put all those programs in there. Many times, M$FT is hindered because of partners and because of their market dominance. That disappoints me. Microsoft is a monopoly is the loosest of terms; the OS market is more of an oligopoly with a few firms battling. And there is really no barrier to someone switching OS, especially since Microsoft does try and make it somewhat easy to collaborate between both systems.

Third, Apple controls the box. How much easier is it to design software to work all time when you only have a few computer models and makes? When you think of how many device drivers the Mac OS supports vs. Windows, it's amazing.

Just my 2 cents. Both OS are good. Windows Vista should be a good upgrade for Windows users. Bye!

--
B R E N T / N I K O N D 7 0
http://www.pbase.com/brentgv
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/userphotos?id=85162

CIASpook · Jan 30, 2006

Every day this week I've been getting PayPal spoofs warning me that I better update my account. However, the e-mail they keep sending it to is NOT the one I used with PayPal. haha

Spoofs are probably some of the most dangerous e-mails out there because they look very very very legit.

dinnatouch said:
I too received a similar email today, but now I delete all emails
from unknown senders without even opening them.
I got a virus at the new year that was disguised as an undelivered
mail report. That one wiped out my primary hard drive but luckily
all my pictures were stored on a secondary drive. Since then I've
been overly paranoid about uninvited mail.
--
Jim R.
Dinna Touch!

http://www.dinnatouch.net

--
http://www.pbase.com/DigitalCMH

maxx2 · Jan 30, 2006

I have 3 PC's networked at home and am running user accounts on all except when I'm doing admin. It's not a PITA to switch accounts. Takes a few seconds.

Apple does release security patches regularly:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300667
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25631
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303101

BTW, I'm not knocking Apple. They make great systems (I used to own two) and don't have all the legacy baggage that the Windoze architecture must deal with. But the OS is not nearly as secure as Mac users think.

Considering they only have what, 2-3% desktop market share (and even less in the corporate world, where viruses can do the most damage), I'm surprised hackers even bother. That's the main reason there are few mac viruses.

Maxx

RichSnyder said:
No it wouldn't. The problem with most PC viruses is that everyone
is running as Administrator equivalent so when they click on
malicious code, bad things happen right away. With a Mac on OS X,
you don't run as a priviledged user but instead have to
authenticate when you want to install software, etc.

You can do a similar setup with Windows XP by running as a
non-priviledged user and then logging into a separate account with
Admin rights to install software. This is usually too much of a
PITA, so nobody does it.

Viruses are certainly possible on a MAC as no OS is 100% secure,
but it should be fairly obvious to anyone that has used both
platforms which is more secure.

Kriss001 · Jan 30, 2006

I agree that software doesn't look half bad. I don't mind running redundant scans, can't hurt to be sure. They do say in the specs to uninstall any AV software you have before you install this. Perhaps it's just a precaution but it lists the software that's not compatible with it. When MS puts it on their website as a update or new product I will consider it. Until then, I will trust my Symantec products, like I always have.. Never had a virus on my PC although many of my customers have.

Kriss

--
See if I'm online, ICQ# 1326088
Check out my photo site if you have some time!
http://voyager01.deviantart.com/gallery/

D-70, Kit, 50/1.8, 70-200VR, 200f/4AFED, SB-800, GitzoG2220, Bogen/Manfrotto 3245 Auto Monopod, Bogen 322 RC2 Grip Head, Canon500D Close-up Filter, Nikon 6T Close-up Filter.

'I want to die like my grandfather, peacefully in his sleep. Not like the passengers in his car'...

thomas2279 · Jan 30, 2006

Thanks for warning......

---------------

Regards

DLt

Herman Roote · Jan 30, 2006

Just got one to-night from Traders World.com, wanting to buy my pictures.

traders World.com does not exist, it was attached with a virus, but did not get to my hard drive, think Norton got it first.

I hope.
--
Herman
http://www.hermanroote-photography.com

Beacon · Jan 30, 2006

Jimsokay said:
21 years of Macs and not a single virus, Trojan Horse, spyware etc.

But I can say the same thing about my PC's. But only because I've used appropriate measures to stop the intruders.

I freely admit that OS X is designed as a more secure platform by default.

I'm not really sure why we PC users are so resistant to the Mac world. I suppose it's because we resist change. I still use some old programs that are as much as 15 years old because I don't have time or am too lazy to learn the newer versions.

Jimsokay said:
That said I do know people that have no problems with their PC's,
but the majority of users are not like them.

If I had finished reading your post before I started responding, I'd have seen that you already addressed my first point. ;-)

Jimsokay said:
Windows wins hands down for playing games though.

I'm not into games anymore, but the Mac platform seems to be the system of choice for many music composer and film editor types. Why is that? Are the Mac's just inherently better at this sort of application? Or did the software just seem to develop better along the Mac lines? Or did MS just try for too long to make upgrades instead of scrapping the old OS's and starting fresh?

Any thoughts on this?

--

Frank Ross · Jan 30, 2006

If you want the protection of a Mac without giving up your PC, run Linux on a partition. Do you e-mailing in Linux. If you have the time you can get Linux free. It does have a steep learing curve, but you don't have to get into it that far just to do internet and e-mail.

Frank

Jimsokay · Jan 31, 2006

I'll go out on a limb here to answer this with a "Best guess"

If you look into the history of the Mac, what they were trying to do when they were creating it

you would find that they wanted to provide an experience that was intuitive as well as enjoyable. DOS was data in/ data out, 640k of RAM should be enough for anybody.

Certain types are more likely to be drawn to Macs, while many others thought DOS was all mankind every really needed. While DOS was lightning fast and could cause screen burn from being so exciting it was akin to brushing your teeth all day long. It was that much fun.

Since Windows dominate the personal computer market that must be the best platform then, correct?

Today McDonalds sold the most hamburgs, that must mean they must serve the best hamburgs in the country right?

Ask an artist sometime why they don't just use a No.2 pencil from Staples rather than mess with all those fancy brushes and paints.

Also lots of creative types are not the most technically savvy under the hood. Change your colorspace in Windows? You've just messed with the registry. Did you mess up your registry? For now you own a doorstop. You say you needed to get that project done? Regardless, since you don't even know what a "registry" is you own a doorstop.

Apple is a case study in itself. What a company can do very right and what they can do very wrong.

I fully agree with you that it would be great if M$FT could scrap their OS and rebuild from the ground up! They have some of the finest talent in the world that could provide the greatest OS if asked, but it's all market driven, not user driven. Not unGM like.

BTW I've read there's some nice music apps and hardware for windozes.

Jim

PS I just wrote this for Beacon since he was very understanding of where I was coming from. For all you hardcore Window fans... I'm content just knowing you're happy.

Beacon said:
Beacon said:

Windows wins hands down for playing games though.

Click to expand...

I'm not into games anymore, but the Mac platform seems to be the
system of choice for many music composer and film editor types. Why
is that? Are the Mac's just inherently better at this sort of
application? Or did the software just seem to develop better along
the Mac lines? Or did MS just try for too long to make upgrades
instead of scrapping the old OS's and starting fresh?

Any thoughts on this?

--

--
Jim

barrnet · Jan 31, 2006

Hi Herman,

After getting this message this am, I checked. It's a legitimate publisher of stock trading information. If you click on their contact info link, it warns you of this spam/virus. Here's the link: http://www.tradersworld.com/corporate_information/index.htm

Here's also a link to a detailed description of it:
http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/analyses/trojstinxn.html

I'm on a Mac, but it's still good to keep one's guard up.

Warm regards,
Barry
--
http://barryphoto.smugmug.com/

R Dunlop · Jan 31, 2006

http://www.stupidvideos.com/video/just_plain_stupid/mac_equals_suck/
--
Hotworks Tee Hee

cmvsm · Jan 31, 2006

Actually Maxx, the market share is roughly 6-7% and growing currently. That 2-3% was true right before Steve Jobs came back to the helm, which was only a couple of years ago. Not a bad increase in market share for a 3-4 year period.

Of course, there is much more to come with the Pentium based systems. In regard to security, the only way that it could be compromised, is if someone knew your password. And if they get that, its your own fault.

In other words..get a Mac. ;-)
--
http://cmvsm.zoto.com/galleries

Matthew S. · Jan 31, 2006

Just use web mail. You can then view it and it it has an attachment you want you can scan it on thier servers before you download it. It is when you have it on your local machine that the problems start.....

Frank Ross said:
If you want the protection of a Mac without giving up your PC, run
Linux on a partition. Do you e-mailing in Linux. If you have the
time you can get Linux free. It does have a steep learing curve,
but you don't have to get into it that far just to do internet and
e-mail.

Frank

maxx2 · Jan 31, 2006

cmvsm said:
Actually Maxx, the market share is roughly 6-7% and growing
currently. That 2-3% was true right before Steve Jobs came back to
the helm, which was only a couple of years ago. Not a bad increase
in market share for a 3-4 year period.

Of course, there is much more to come with the Pentium based
systems. In regard to security, the only way that it could be
compromised, is if someone knew your password. And if they get
that, its your own fault.

In other words..get a Mac. ;-)
--
http://cmvsm.zoto.com/galleries

Be warned!

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