Posted on 05/11/2006 1:24:06 PM PDT by quidnunc
There's no other major item most of us own that is as confusing, unpredictable and unreliable as our personal computers. Everybody has questions about them, and we aim to help.
Here are a few questions about computers I've received recently from people like you, and my answers. I have edited and restated the questions a bit, for readability. This week my mailbox contained a question about security software for Macs.
If you have a question, send it to me at mossberg@wsj.com, and I may select it to be answered here in Mossberg's Mailbox.
Q: There's been a lot of press lately about increased virus activity on the Macintosh platform. Should Mac owners now be running the same kinds of security software that Windows owners use?
A: There is no sudden security crisis on the Apple Macintosh platform. In fact, for average Mac users, there isn't a security threat of any significance, at least not yet. It is laughable to compare the real, massive and burdensome security problems on Windows with the largely theoretical security problem on the Mac.
As I have said in the past, no operating system is invulnerable to attack, including Apple's Mac OS X operating system, which powers Macintosh computers. It is possible to write malicious software for the Mac, including viruses and spyware, and it is possible for this software to spread in the wild, infecting many Macs.
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at ptech.wsj.com ...
Almost 90% of them will with VirtualPC... and 100% of them with Boot Camp.
I was just kidding... I got epilepsy from playing nintendo BEFORE the warning lables and I never sued them.
Surely not the viruses and spyware. All of them?
Look guys, it's 3:00 AM here and the SciFi channel's Outer Limits just ended so I am going to take my old carcase to bed... yawn.
yea im off to bed too... :) nite world.
Using Boot Camp boots the Mac into a full fledged WindowsXP Pro OS... and it would be just as susceptible to ALL of them as a Windows XP on any other maker's box. They couldn't touch the Mac OS X partition though.
I run AVG, MS Anti-Spyware, and Spybot Search and Destroy on my Windows XP Pro installation on my Virtual PC... and I DON'T surf the web or receive email on it... except to upgrade the anti-ware and their definitions.
Good nite, JS
That hyperbole.
Similarly equipped (HW & SW) Macs and PCs are fairly close in price. Macs are definitely NOT 3 or 4 times the price.
I'd say it's more like the old AMC, but good summation.
Evertime I tried MS I got burned. I've never given Linux a fair shot.
Who were you directing this at. You have me confused on this one.
That's pretty much how I'd put it myself, with the exception of going the Linux route rather than OSX. The peace of mind non-geeks get with Macs is enough for me to recommend them to people if they aren't willing to make the effort it takes to learn Linux (which really isn't much more than the effort it takes to learn MS-windows well).
Fast, sure sometimes, but very rough riding and hard to drive, terribly few creature comforts, and you're constantly exposed to the natural elements. Ergo, there's not many on the road, whether it's cheaper to buy than an actual car or not.
The latest issue of Linux Journal has an article about some geek with way too much time on his hands installing YDL onto an IPOD so he could boot Linux on his MAC.
I don't understand the antipathy of the freeper in question for Macs. OSX and Linux are both Unix underneath.
Sucks that we've got two trolls on the tech threads. At least this one appears to mainly infect just the Mac threads :-)
Oh look, it has a floppy. How '90s.
I'd compare earlier Linux to a roadster I had. Small, light and no unnecessary creature comforts like carpeting, soundproofing, ABS, power steering, power brakes, power windows, cruise control or A/C. It didn't even have sun visors or (all Americans go into shock now) cupholders!
But the performance and handling on that car ruined me for all others. Everything else just feels so cumbersome and out of touch with the road.
I'd compare modern Linux to what that car became in the US -- most creature comforts added in, much heavier, but also more powerful.
That's the argument against Windows from a Mac point of view.
I, like most people, don't want to. At 57 years old (in three weeks or so)
Happy birthday in case I forget.
I paid $900 for the system I use at home. The mac at work was way over that. Maybe not 4 times more expensive but way more than it should have cost.
Let's see, I just priced an iMac with an equivalent PC, going on average adult home user wants something full-featured and decently powerful, OEM, small space, wants to do standard stuff with the Internet, virus-free, average office-type stuff, and playing with the home movies and photos, and some average gaming.
The more capable little iMac came out cheaper than the SFF Gateway (and a hell of a lot better looking on the desktop). The big iMac came out cheaper than the Sony, but the Sony has a TV tuner, where the iMac is faster.
Where's that extra money claim?
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