You said -- "The only times any of my machines were hijacked were from downloaded software."
Get a Mac...
http://www.apple.com/getamac/
Have you seen those "Mac commercials" (i.e., "I'm a Mac; I'm a PC"). They're great. AND, it's true, you don't get viruses (zip, nada, none, not at all), and you don't get malware. It's true.
Although I run anti-virus software on my Macs, it's one of the most *non-useful* pieces of software that I have. It's totally *useless* on a Mac! I don't know why I have it, actually.
I just looked at one of those 24-inch iMacs the other day. I think I'm going to get it. What a great screen with that iMac. I love it...
http://www.apple.com/imac/
http://tinyurl.com/rtorg
Regards,
Star Traveler
"I just looked at one of those 24-inch iMacs the other day."
Looks good to me, too.
There are mac viruses you know, and the reason there arent that many is b/c its foolish to make one. Why infect 3-4% of the computing population when you can hit 90% with a windows virus?