Posted on 08/02/2006 1:47:41 AM PDT by Swordmaker
Ah, computer security training. Don’t you just love it? Doesn’t it make you feel secure to know that your alert IT department is on patrol against the evil malware that slinks in and takes the network down every now and then, giving you a free afternoon off? Look at all the resources those wise caretakers have activated to keep you safe!
. . .
In fact, this article started out as a simple expose on the somewhat insulting online training I just took. But one thought led to another, and soon I was ruminating on the Information Technology organization as a whole, and about the effectiveness and rationality of its response to the troublesome invasion of micro-cyberorganisms of the last 6 or 7 years.
. . .
The rise of computer viruses, email worms, adware, spyware, and indeed the whole category now known as “malware” simply could not have happened without the Microsoft Windows monopoly of both PC’s and web browsing and the way the product’s corporate owners responded to the threat. In fact, the rise of the myth helped prolong the outbreak, and perhaps just made it worse, since it took Microsoft off the hook of responsibility… thus conveniently keeping the company’s consideration of the potentially expensive solutions at a very low priority.
Some points from the "insulting training":
The author expounds on why all of these points made by the training are false...
(Excerpt) Read more at musingsfrommars.org ...
More to the point he demonstrates the differences in security between Windows and Mac OS X... and explains why there are so many myths being spread.
Great read.
PING!
Warning! Warning! Warning! Although he does not bring up politics, the author was web designer and manager for Al Gore... and managed the Clinton White House web site... but he does know what he is talking about on IT... after all, Al Gore did invent the Internet... and he hired this guy to run his website...
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Great post. Thanks. I haven't had malware on my Macs since the 1990s.
And in the same vein, I haven't ever had malware on my Linux box.
While some continue to say that once our respective platforms get more popular, then we'll experience the same woes as Windows does today, I continue to be malware free today. Also, neither Macs nor Linux will ever be as vulnerable to malware as Windows is today, due to the architecture of our systems. THey're just designed better.
GACK! I wish this guy would help me with my Mac email. I'm on adelphia cable/now Time/Warner as of this morning. And my email has gone south.
I've talked to Adelphia twice this morning, and each time they say to CALL MAC because it's a Mac problem.
This has been going on with Adelphia ever since I got a Mac. I refuse to pay for a call to Mac when I'm already paying Adelphia. So, I always ask to speak to a supervisor, who always fixes it up w/o a call to Mac. This morning, they INSIST that it is working and they send me an email and I send them one, and everything is fine, and THEN when I hang up, I get nothing but bounced messages.
I know, I'm ranting. Thanks for reading this.
And neither is designed to trap you into using just their product (although if Jobs had 90 percent of the market I wouldn't put it past him to try.)
Then why are they stuck at less than 5% of the market? I think in Apple's case, it's probably the price, but that's not the case with Linux, or is it?
I'm not sure "stuck" is the proper word as just a few months ago everyone was saying 2 or 3%.
Fine, they are stuck below 10% then. I think Apple makes great products, I may buy one myself when the 64 bit Intel models arrive, but I think they have been stuck at low user rates because Apple has historically cost more and Windows works as good and has more software available for it. That and the fact Apple breaks compatibility so much, forces you to upgrade, etc. Hopefully all that will change if they get a larger market share, meaning they can't make those herky jerky changes without sending ripples though higher quantities of customers.
Hi, Leonard
I'm on Tiger, and I'm using MacMail which is the only one Adelphia/Time/Warner will allow me to use.
A/T/W seems to have it in for Macs. And they always try to get rid of the customers by telling them to phone Mac. If I'd done that every time they told me to, I'd have spent a large amount of money unnecessarily.
Thanks for asking.
I think the article, while perhaps a bit overlong, was a good explanation of this.
People, on the whole, fear change. This is especially true of the routine-oriented folks who are likely to be the best IT managers.
People hate to spend money. And re-buying all the software you own is a big problem. When I switched to Mac, I had a Windows version of Photoshop that I was able to "crossgrade" to Mac. I paid the upgrade price for Apple Photoshop and stopped using my Windows version. Unfortunately, my understanding is that Adobe doesn't let you do this anymore, which means you wind up re-buying a $1,000 graphics suite if you want to change platforms.
There is certainly enormous momentum towards staying where you are.
So most people's staying with Windows is not at all surprising even though Apple has a better system and a far superior user experience.
D
"Unfortunately, my understanding is that Adobe doesn't let you do this anymore, which means you wind up re-buying a $1,000 graphics suite if you want to change platforms."
Not to mention that all the Type 1 Adobe fonts I got with various Illustrator and PageMaker upgrades would be lost since they are PC versions. That's always been a problem for me because good fonts aren't cheap.
Do you know this or did you just hear this somewhere?
Per Adobe:
NOTE: Mac OS X provides native support for OpenType .otf fonts (as well as PostScript® Type 1 fonts) and does not require ATM Light for use with native and carbon applications. Applications running in Classic mode in Mac OS X still require ATM Light.
OS X doesn't care if the Type 1 is a Mac or a PC Type 1. What Macs don't like is amateur, poorly constructed fonts that leave outlines open, or those whose hints can result in a divide by zero error when shrunk too small. Your Adobe fonts should work just fine.
The Mac has a really nice set of included fonts, but I feel your pain. For me, as long as there's an Optima and an old-fashioned-style font (Goudy Old Style in my case on the Mac), I'm in good shape.
I thought you could use PC fonts on a Mac - are you sure you can't? I thought the Adobe font format was common across platforms.
D
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