It's still not necessary to run AV software with Mac OS X! Maybe it will be someday, but that day is yet to come.
Your point about good security practices is well taken, but the two OS's are very different at a fundamental level. OS X is Unix, and Unix was developed from scratch as a multi-user, networked environment. Windows has so much legacy baggage that its heritage as a non-networked environment still cripples it.
That'll only work so long as no one bothers to develop malware for the Mac. Best to learn good security practices first, then chose whatever platform you want to use.
If it were just a matter of "bothering to develop" it, it would have been done long ago. OS X and other Unix-based OS implementations are inherently more secure than Windows. At this time, installing commercial antivirus stuff on a Mac is just a waste of money. If you're paranoid, the Mac version of ClamAV is available for free, but not many people I know bother with it.
Well, you could switch to a Mac. Then, you wouldn't need any AV stuff at all. Or is that too easy? Some people seem to enjoy fighting with crapware and viruses.
If anyone would care to see the payload from one of these devices, visit the RCMP Museum in Regina Saskatchewan - at least it was on display last time I was there.
A few years ago the auto recycler I was working for bought a salvaged SUV. It was apparently in perfect condition- no dents or other damage. It was only about a year old. So, what happened that caused the insurance company to write it off?
Well, it got into an "up to the door handles" situation in a creek while the owner was out "4-wheelin'," which is what an SUV is supposed to be built for, notwithstanding their more normal use as intimidating automotive pit bulls.
When the car was winched out of the creek and dried out, it wouldn't start. In an older model, it would have just been a matter of drying out the distributor and changing oil, but this was new technology. The computer under the passenger seat had been immersed, as had the wiring harnesses. When the insurance company totaled up the cost of a new computer, new wiring harnesses, labor and a few other items, it turned out to be cheaper to scrap the car than to fix it!
Postscript: My employer simply removed the needed parts from an identical model that had been rolled, installed the stuff in the wannabe submarine, and sold it for a healthy profit.
Is it really "Built into every Mac" ?
Well, yes, at least every Mac running OS X, the current OS and OS 9, the second-newest. Not availab le at extra charge or downloadable with extra trouble - built in!
Built into every Mac is a utility called Keychain that remembers all your passwords for you. Of course you can get add-ons for Windows that give the same functionality for a price...
The Computer Science faculty at my alma mater (University of Alberta) was in Microsoft's pocket in the '90's. Unix held out in the academic infrastructure, but it was PCs all the way on the desktops that we Artsies could access. Macs were pretty well purged by '93, except for Education. I have no idea how it is now - probably more of the same.
(1) Naming their product to sound like Windows attracts Windows users; (2) Making it look like OSX in ways attracts Mac users and the general public
Do you really think Mac users are interested in anything but a Mac? Lindows might very well appeal to a dimbulb, but few of those would be Mac users.
If you look at the actual programs involved, Word for Windows bears very little resemblance to Word for DOS - it really descends from Word for Macintosh. Ditto Excel.
And, if you look at Windows versions of WordPerfect, you will notice that the newer they get, the more they come to resemble WordPerfect for Macintosh.
Why should we be upset? This is just another example of Windoze users being "Mac Wannabes." They never get the point - the good looks of Mac products are just icing on the cake. It's the OS that counts. No matter how good looking a PC may be, even if it's stuffed into a Mac case, it will still suck because it runs Windoze.
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It's still not necessary to run AV software with Mac OS X! Maybe it will be someday, but that day is yet to come. Your point about good security practices is well taken, but the two OS's are very different at a fundamental level. OS X is Unix, and Unix was developed from scratch as a multi-user, networked environment. Windows has so much legacy baggage that its heritage as a non-networked environment still cripples it.
That'll only work so long as no one bothers to develop malware for the Mac. Best to learn good security practices first, then chose whatever platform you want to use.
If it were just a matter of "bothering to develop" it, it would have been done long ago. OS X and other Unix-based OS implementations are inherently more secure than Windows. At this time, installing commercial antivirus stuff on a Mac is just a waste of money. If you're paranoid, the Mac version of ClamAV is available for free, but not many people I know bother with it.
Well, you could switch to a Mac. Then, you wouldn't need any AV stuff at all. Or is that too easy? Some people seem to enjoy fighting with crapware and viruses.
Big deal. You can torch the grill off a Rolls-Royce and weld it to the front of a rusty Ford Pinto, too.
OK, then, what's the ultimate source of cool? Or are we maybe just a bit hazy on the meaning of "penultimate?"
Any advice for frustrated users, especially non-technical users?" Buy a Mac. Duh!!
Graphic Converter opens this kind of file with no problem. Photoshop CS does not. Go figure.
If anyone would care to see the payload from one of these devices, visit the RCMP Museum in Regina Saskatchewan - at least it was on display last time I was there.
A few years ago the auto recycler I was working for bought a salvaged SUV. It was apparently in perfect condition- no dents or other damage. It was only about a year old. So, what happened that caused the insurance company to write it off? Well, it got into an "up to the door handles" situation in a creek while the owner was out "4-wheelin'," which is what an SUV is supposed to be built for, notwithstanding their more normal use as intimidating automotive pit bulls. When the car was winched out of the creek and dried out, it wouldn't start. In an older model, it would have just been a matter of drying out the distributor and changing oil, but this was new technology. The computer under the passenger seat had been immersed, as had the wiring harnesses. When the insurance company totaled up the cost of a new computer, new wiring harnesses, labor and a few other items, it turned out to be cheaper to scrap the car than to fix it! Postscript: My employer simply removed the needed parts from an identical model that had been rolled, installed the stuff in the wannabe submarine, and sold it for a healthy profit.
Why would the Mac world need one? We have Keychain.
Well, log out when you're away from your Mac and make damn sure that nobody else finds out your password.
Is it really "Built into every Mac" ? Well, yes, at least every Mac running OS X, the current OS and OS 9, the second-newest. Not availab le at extra charge or downloadable with extra trouble - built in!
Built into every Mac is a utility called Keychain that remembers all your passwords for you. Of course you can get add-ons for Windows that give the same functionality for a price...
The Computer Science faculty at my alma mater (University of Alberta) was in Microsoft's pocket in the '90's. Unix held out in the academic infrastructure, but it was PCs all the way on the desktops that we Artsies could access. Macs were pretty well purged by '93, except for Education. I have no idea how it is now - probably more of the same.
(1) Naming their product to sound like Windows attracts Windows users; (2) Making it look like OSX in ways attracts Mac users and the general public Do you really think Mac users are interested in anything but a Mac? Lindows might very well appeal to a dimbulb, but few of those would be Mac users.
If you look at the actual programs involved, Word for Windows bears very little resemblance to Word for DOS - it really descends from Word for Macintosh. Ditto Excel.
And, if you look at Windows versions of WordPerfect, you will notice that the newer they get, the more they come to resemble WordPerfect for Macintosh.
Why should we be upset? This is just another example of Windoze users being "Mac Wannabes." They never get the point - the good looks of Mac products are just icing on the cake. It's the OS that counts. No matter how good looking a PC may be, even if it's stuffed into a Mac case, it will still suck because it runs Windoze.