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Want Security? Make The Switch
Lord_Slepnir writes "Security firm Sophos Security has released a report claiming that Macs will be more secure than Windows for some time to come. The report listed the 10 most common kinds of malware, and noted that they can only infect Windows systems."
I want to say something totally obvious and have is posted on Slashdot too!
FreeBSD: The Power to Serve!
Microsoft is not hit so much because they are popular, they are hit because their whole development and security model is badly employed by others. How much software can run on a limited user account in Windows without any issue? OSX is far beyond them in this respect.
I've noticed that most of the people who advocate the popularity myth are not programmers. Whenever I have asked them just what they actually know about programming, I often get the usual populist bullshit "does that really matter?! Who do you think you are, elitist?"
How stupid do you have to be to believe that all designs are fundamentally the same? That's what the popularity model assumes. It assumes that OSX is more secure only because it hasn't had any scrutiny. Maybe so, but its flaws are its own. It might be worse than Windows, but if it is, it's because of OSX's design and implementation.
The average luser will just click the ok screen every time. This is because macs make you hit so many ok buttons that most people don't bother to look. "Do you want to download this?" yes. "Do you want to open this window?" yes. and so on and so on because it can't tell a real possible threat from normal activity.
Don't worry, I'd already stopped reading your post when I reached "effects".
I'm perfectly serious here. I'm not clueless or an idiot; I probably know more about computers than most people here. I've used Macs and various Linices extensively, and I consider myself skilled with both. But I still use Windows for my primary computer, because I just happen to find it a pleasanter environment. I can get stuff done faster in Windows. It does what I want, the way I want to do it. That's why.
Does anyone else object to the word pleasanter? I much prefer the proper Queens English version of 'More Pleasant'
**Gets ready for the stream of abuse that is sure to come**
'By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes'
Why would one have to bother infecting a Mac with something? They already suck. (some things of them are good, but personally I hate them.)
Oh I don't know, but I'm with most of the millions of others who would rather play World of Warcraft and Starcraft... (the most popular games in history) lo and behold they work just fine on my Mac, even with the same discs from the PC version! Imagine that!
Perhaps, then, you failed to see the "not in other emulation software" part? Here, let me paste it in for you:
What do you mean "surely not"? Can I run City of Heroes/Villains or DDO natively on an Apple machine IN OS/X (NOT in Windows dual-booted, and NOT in VirtualPC/VMWare/Other Emulation Software)?
See that, there? The bolded part?
Yes, that means playing your games in Wine (or whatever OSX is using to play WoW/Starcraft) doesn't count.
Plus, your offer of being able to play WoW and Starcraft is irrelevent to what I said. WoW/Starcraft != CoV/CoH or DDO. I refuse to switch to another MMORPG from those I play simply because another "is the most popular game in history". What does it matter if I loath the game?
bork bork bork!