Posted on 11/11/2010 7:57:51 PM PST by TomServo
Perhaps you've heard that the Apple Mac OS X operating system is simply more secure by design and not prone to the security flaws and vulnerabilities that plague the dominant Microsoft Windows operating system? Well, don't believe the hype. Apple unleashed an update for Mac OS X this week which fixes a massive 134 vulnerabilities.
(Excerpt) Read more at pcworld.com ...
Marketing. Makes a difference.
I just started the update a few minutes and it looks like it's going to be downloading all day:
18 MB of 703.8 MB - About 5 hours
Next!?!
I assume this was the update I did yesterday. Most of this is over my head. :)
Ok, now you’re talking about me... ;)
This account has been banned or suspended.
LOL Didn't know that!
Very few of the security fixes in OS X are in the BSD layer. Most come in the higher OS X layers, Apple software (such as Safari) and included third-party software.
It's a from-scratch install of the OS, re-install your apps, and then use their Migration Tool to move your data from XP to the Win7 environment.
It's a great time to get a new/bigger hard drive. Leave the old XP HD intact and bootable; you never know what you might forget in the migration and want to go back and get.
Nearly all modern (last few years) application software that ran on XP will run on Win7 as-is; there are a few exceptions where you'll want to upgrade to the latest release for best compatibility.
Older software... I've got programs written for Windows 95 and Windows NT4 -- the original releases -- that I needed to run as-is because later releases didn't happen. Most run fine. I found one whose installer was 16-bit and wouldn't install under Win7-64bit although it installed fine on Win7-32bit. On a hunch, I copied the resulting installation from a 32-bit Win7 to my 64-bit Win7, and it runs fine -- only the installer was incompatible.
If you get one of the higher-end versions of Win7, it comes with a free download of a Virtual XP machine -- a complete new copy of XP that runs "inside of" Win7, for any programs that really need XP. Best of both worlds.
I find Win7 runs better (faster, more stable) than XP.
I installed Windows Security Essentials (Microsoft's freebie anti-vir) and like it -- it's very unobtrusive.
The problems are multiple. Windows used to work on the assumption that everybody runs admin for apps, so developers made their software along those lines. The infamous UAC popping up all the time was because apps were used to having admin, and continuously needed to do admin stuff to run. Many of the Windows problems are with legacy, and this is a prime example.
A modern, well-written app under Win7 will run just fine as a very limited user, and IIRC you can install with just having to type in the admin password as on a Mac.
But not all apps require admin. There is an account-level install method for applications that cannot make any system changes, just installs the app in the user’s profile folder.
Even on Win7, I still run anti-malware s/w, but Microsoft's freebie defaults (Security Essentials and Windows Defender) are sufficient, IMO, and they are very unobtrusive.
So although I agree with you that I probably would feed pretty safe running fully-patched Win7 naked on the internet, I wouldn't quite do it... The main difference is that there -are- active exploits in the wild for Windows, and not for OS-X. This is just me, and maybe it's just old habit. :)
I do run Win7 naked on a few machines used for testing, where anti-vir might affect developmental work, but I don't surf with those machines.
> I switched to Apple for a day and found it too look fugly like a free Linux GUI. Only you have to pay for it. Windows 7 looks very nice. XP looked so ugly I always ran it in a mode that maked it look like Windows 98...... back then you could have claimed the Apple OS looked better than Windows
Some of the Linux distros have been copying the Apple GUI look and feel for years. It's just a superficial resemblance, but enough to support your comment. :)
The default XP GUI always made me think of a Fisher-Price toy.
Much as I like Win7 as an OS, I can't stand the default GUI with its swoopy transparent crap, so I brain-damage it back into Win2000 Classic and I can deal with it better.
To each, their own...
Yep. Some will miss him; others, not so much.
Pretty much... though it's not 100%.
Windows "Run-As [Administrator]" works for a lot of things. But it's not really the moral equivalent of Unix/Linux "sudo"... it's more like "setuid", in that the running program seems to still know that it's being run by a non-administrative user.
I have found that installing and modifying some applications using "Run-As" yields different results from logging in as Administrator and running the same program. And the latter works better.
All of my viruses seem to be in sleeper cells.
Windows patches DO NOT INCLUDE such third party updates or patches and require these to come from the publishers them selves. Apple includes them with their updates... and gets DINGED for them by the authors of these FUD articles.
Excellent points. Nice graphic too.
Three cheers for dennis! He invented a word!
The problem with PugetSound was that he made a lot of personal attacks. That is not the defining quality of a FReeper. Argue about a subject all you want. But personal attacks are beyond the pale.
He was given more than enough time to change his ways.
In 1913 Webster dictionary. Nice try though
I’m a hardcore Solaris/Unix guy, therefore I love OS X.
I use Windows daily too. If it’s your thing it’s fine with me, but it’s an inferior OS because Microsoft has to make it backward compatible with DOS. When Apple put out OS X and phased out System 7, it was the best thing ever to happen to a desktop OS, which also happens to be a robust server OS. And that is awesome.
I’m a unix head myself - check the disclaimer at the bottom of my FR profile page :)
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