Posted by Jools
Security threats to PCs with Microsoft Windows have increased so much that computer users should consider using a Mac, says a leading security firm.
Sophos security said that the 10 most commonly found pieces of malicious software all targeted Windows machines.
In contrast, it said, none of the "malware" were capable of infecting the Mac OS X operating system.
Read more here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5150508.stm
Posted by Jim
Strange I'm on XP and I don't have security issues ... . I'm only running an antivirus and my firewall is hardware.
It's always the same with those articles, people have to learn how to use a computer and how to be safe on the internet. If suddenly Apple would take 75% of the market there will be security issues with the OS, only wide used systems are targetted for max efficiency.
Posted by Luke-the-magic-man
whey, looks like thats an excuse for me to buy another mac llol
Posted by Esater
Eventually everyone is going to buy a MAC and then lots of viruses will appear for them since it ll become such a popular OS then someone will tell us to switch back to Windows lol
Can't help but think that we can never win lol
+ I can smell some sort of deal MAC and WINDOWS made to make us spalsh out on switching OS ever so often lol
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[ This Message was edited by: Esater on 2006-07-05 23:38 ]
Posted by shyam335
malware and virus'es are more where more people are,unfortunately its windows.
When more people goes to mac camp,we can see problems i persume.
I think vista is more focused towards security.
Posted by Xugaa
Problem is FOR ME...
I don't like the look of them.
They suck at video gaming, even the great ones don't really come close to contending with top PCs, also lack a lot of games.
Many programs that I use don't work on them.
I can't customise there specs to the degree I would like from a computer, or the same as my PC at the mo.
Not even the best one has specs that compare to a top PC.
Hardly anyone uses them, which means its quite hard to get help with them or to discuss.
They cost too much, usually much more than PC's unfortunately, where I've seen them anyway, even in Apple shops.
Go into any store and get a grand choice of one, yeah Apple shops obviously have them but the nearest to me I think must be Bristol which is 1-2 hours a way so not very easy.
They're made by Apple, not an Apple fan really.
Having one would remind too much of a bloody Ipoo, damn Ipods can't stand them IMO lol.
I'm not much of an apple fan, much prefer grapes, its true.
Wouldn't switch an Apple for my Uber-Machine any day.
The only reason there are more viruses and security risks with PC's and Windows is because no one wants to use Apples, this unfortunately includes hackers, crackers and other nobs.
If you actually care about your computer you will buy decent virus, firewall, security, protection, anti-spy software such as Norton and Spybot, providing you do in fact care, you will have zilch problemos with the nobs mentioned above.
So... nah!
>> IMO <<
Inserted so that others will not think of my post as dictating or anti-Mac... ok.
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'Per Ardua Ad Astra' - Through Adversity To The Stars [ This Message was edited by: Xugaa on 2006-07-06 12:14 ]
Posted by Jools
I don't like the look of them.
Personal preference. But Apple are known the world over for their un-rivalled industrial design.
They suck at video gaming.
Computers can do more than just play games - thats what PS2 & Xbox are for. But every Intel Mac can run every Windows games just like a PC can.
Many programs don't work on them.
So? Every program I want to use works. There's so much shite out there for Windows I'm glad I don't have to spend hours looking for one good program out of 500 shite ones.
I can't customise there specs.
Wrong! Yes you can.
Not even the best one has decent specs.
Intel-based Macs have equivalents specs as PCs
Hardly anyone uses them.
Be a sheep if you want. If everyone started poking themselves in the eye with a hot rod, I suppose you'd want to do the same.
They cost too much.
Similarly specced Macs and PCs are the same on price. In fact the Mac is often cheaper, when you add in tech support, and all the security programs you need to buy just to keep yourself safe. See here for a comparision between 2 similarly specced Mac & PCs. Guess what? The Mac is cheaper and better in almost every aspect.
Go into your any store and get a grand choice of one.
Perhaps if you went into an Apple store or decent retailer you'd find more. Mothercare isn't known for selling many computers.
They're made by Apple.
10 out of 10 for observation. Well done!
I don't like Apple.
So?
Having one would remind too much of a bloody Ipoo.
Don't buy one then, and don't think about Ipoo - whatever that may be.
I'm not much of an apple fan, much prefer grapes.
Ha! A fruit joke... amazing! Must've been thinking that up for hours!
Wouldn't switch an Apple for my Uber-Machine any day.
I agree! I wouldn't switch my Apple for your Uber-Machine any day either. Everyone is entitled to use whatever computer they want.
The only reason there are more viruses and security risks with PC's and Windows is because no one wants to use Apples, this unfortunately includes hackers, crackers and other nobs.
That's good, I wouldn't want hackers, crackers and other nobs using Macs - you're welcome to them!
But, if you knew anything about computers, you would know that Windows is riddled with bugs and is inherently less-secure than Mac OS X, simply down to the design of it, going back years.
If you actually care about your computer you will buy decent virus, firewall, security, protection, anti-spy software such as Norton and Spybot, providing you do in fact care, you will have zilch problemos with the nobs mentioned above.
If you actually care about your computer, you would choose one that doesn't actually require spending loads of money on additional virus, firewall, security, protection, and anti-spy software. Shouldn't these things be included?
Would you buy a car that required you to buy seat-belts, bumpers, air-bags, and crumple-zones before you could use it safely?
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[ This Message was edited by: JoolsG4 on 2006-07-06 10:32 ]
Posted by Scorchio
I'm getting tired of this, As already stated. Macs don't get virus's because nobody cares! Its the more common platforms that get targeted. Its the same idea with the Bluetooth virus's going around. 99/100 of them will only infect a symbian NOKIA phone.
As long as you have an up to date virus and firewall, your windows system should be quite safe!
Posted by Debu
You know what they say? Ignorance is bliss!
This applies for both sides of the debate taking place her.
Posted by slattery69
it kind of reminds me of the whole firefox vs ie debate. ie full of holes etc , so loads of people switched to firefox and low and behold loads of security issues came out when it became a popular browser.
so yes they may seem more secure at the moment but as they sell more then i wonder if theyll still be as secure.
i personal like macs think they look good and are very good for video edit and the like not up on how games work but if it involves putting windows on seems a bit odd.
Posted by Jools
I'm getting tired of people who obviously have no idea what a virus is, and how they propagate themselves to other users.
Viruses spread like wild-fire on Windows because there are hundreds of bugs and methods in the OS for them to do so.
These methods and bugs simply do not exist in Mac OS X. It's nothing to do with Mac OS X being less popular - it just can't be done.
No program can install itself on a Mac without the user knowing and typing in thier admin password. It is VERY easy for a program to do the same on Windows without the user even realizing.
Trojan horses on the Mac and PC are exactly the same however. They rely on the user being tricked into downloading and running a program. In this respect Windows and Mac OS are as secure as the person using it.
However, as already stated - programs cannot install themselves on a Mac without the user knowing about it. And at the end of the day, if you're stupid enough to allow unknown programs from untrusted sources to be installed on your computer (whether Mac or PC), in my opinion you deserve whatever consequences that may bring.
Posted by Scorchio
@jools64 you said "Computers can do more than just play games - thats what PS2 & Xbox are for."
As an avid gamer, 360 and ps2 games don't compare with pc games. As for the intel macs, yeah, they play all games so long as you install windows.
Posted by Jim
Oh come on you can't be sure at 100% that your mac is safe even if it has those über protections, stop giving false advertising.
Most infections are because normal jon doe don't understand it's computer and accept whatever he sees on his screen from strangers, same for Apple but the <10% of market doesn't interest virus writers. Let me remind you that a normal user account on windows need to have admin username and password to install a program but 99% of people use the admin account so again it's the user who is insecure.
Now to be honest, there are holes in the OS but not hundreds
most of them are patched anyway and a good antivirus should handle the threat before. Again, I only run an antivirus ...
Posted by Jools
Your right, no-one can ever be 100% safe, and I never suggested they could either.
However, Mac OS X has now been out for over 5 years, and in all that time not a single self-replicating virus has ever been produced.
A couple of proof-of-concept trojans were made earlier this year, but were never released in to the wild, and the security holes that they exploited were quickly closed.
To be honest, I'm quite surprised that the hacker community hasn't risen to the challenge of producing a Mac virus, just to wipe the smug smile off our faces!
But, until then, I'm not losing any sleep. I don't install software from untrustworthy sources, and I know that the second a Mac virus/trojan is discovered every news site on the net will cover it.
Posted by Cycovision
In the interests of fairness, true viruses that can infect and spread without the user installing them or knowing about it are now very rare in windows XP because most of the biggest security holes were patched in Service Pack 2. There are still a few out there, but they don't cause half as much damage as they used to.
Most malware nowadays is in the form of worms and trojans, which require the user to run an executable or script to install them. Stay away from unsolicited email attachments and dodgy freebies and you'll be fine!
Posted by Xugaa
@ Jools...
Some great answers there, a bit rude to me too but in-whole made me laugh, nice one!
And remember that was all IMO (In my opinion).
I was simply saying why I personally couldn't have a Mac, not dictating why others couldn't, conversation yeah.
Well sorry if my post angered or upset you mate.
Posted by Luke-the-magic-man
one one thing that annoys me is when people say 2 things:
1 - macs cant play games, which they can and even play windows game when xp is installed (one thing a normal pc cannot do yet)
2 - Pcs are faster then macs, not many of them are, if you look at the apple mac laptops they are very competitive and one of the fastet on the market
Posted by Jools
@Xugaa
I wasn't intending to be rude towards you - just a little facetious!!
And you didn't anger me at all - I just feel I should correct inaccuracies. There's a lot of myths about the Mac that maybe were true 10 years ago, but people still believe them.
I know of quite a few people here on Esato that have switched to the Mac in the past year or so, some of whom 'hated' the Mac before trying it (naming no FatReg's) and now who are more Mac 'fanboy'-ish than me (*cough*Luke?!).
Most people just need the chance to try the Mac properly before realizing what they're missing. Then most wouldn't consider going back.
Cheers!
Posted by Debu
@Jools: Quite true!! I dont know if you remember the rather heated debate you had with me a couple of months ago
.
However I have now been using a MacBook for the last 3 months or so, and now I understand why mac's are preffered in many computing circles. My macbook played doom 3 with most of the eye candy turned on straight out of the box!!! So gaming is pretty good on Mac Hardware. On the other hand my vaio is irreplacable for my work. A lot of software that i need to use for my work is PC only, unfortunately.
Posted by Xugaa
When you are updating/customising a Mac's specs eg. graphics, ram, processor etc, do you need to buy Mac specific hardware or can you use normal graphics cards and ram etc? Easy to do yourself like with a PC?
Posted by Jools
You can use all the same stuff as a regular PC usually. PCI slots are the same on both Mac & PCs. Hard drives, CD/DVD burners, RAM etc. is all the same. USB & Firewire devices 95% of the time just work when plugged in.
Bluetooth is a piece of cake on a Mac - no fiddling around with drivers, bluetooth stacks etc. at all. Just plug in any old USB dongle and it works instantly.
More often than not you just plug the thing in to the Mac and it detects it automatically - no configuration required. Occasionally, especially for graphics cards you may need to get Mac drivers from the manufacturers site. All the big name manufacterers make Mac drivers, most likely not the smaller manufacturers though.
Posted by Glenny
whoops, im gonna use PC anyway, was thinkin of using mac, but i just dont like em... they look nice, and i like a change, but i dunno, i just am used to PC and i dunno. I cant explain, i just like them, vista is nice, i dont like the desktop of macs, too expensive, i cant describe it right now, i dunno why... you gotta be dumb to get a virus anyway!(even though i had one before lol)
Posted by whizkidd
Why not Linux then?
you dont need to buy a new machine to put one
I would rather stick the good ol' pc
Am a big fan of Knoppix ...
Posted by clank
Maybe this would be of interest
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/[....]s/0,2000061744,39241748,00.htm
Posted by Jools
That's very old news - and inaccurate. What the article doesn't mention, is that the 'hacker' had local access to the machine.
It's worth noting that more accurate, follow-up articles stated all the security news is much ado about nothing, in practical terms. The security contest allowed people to have local access via SSH, so that had a lot to do with the crack.
Anyone can 'hack' a computer if you have local access!
Posted by whizkidd
Some comments i found on a site regarding this...
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