There were no 128 MB n64 games. In fact, I don't believe there were any 64MB n64 games.
Mario 64 was 64 Megabits... or 8 Megabytes, and the Zelda titles weighed in at something like 4x that... or about 32 MB... Resident Evil 2... that was a large game, too. That may have actually been 64MB.
Sony's business divisions are relatively segregated. Not that I agree with the whole rootkit fiasco.
I have been, historically, been satisified with the quality of the two VAIOs that I have bought. They have been well built, durable, and reliable.
I did not make any claims regarding the quality of the XL1--or it's ability to do the job well. As stated, reviews seem to be mixed; some praising it as the greatest invention *evar*, and some scoffing at it's poorly designed software.
What I do know is that the XL1 is the first personal computer that I have found with a 200 disc media changer.
I don't have $2000 floating around, so I can't exactly test it out for ya, but there are mixed reviews out on the net...
It's an interesting system, actually. In theory, it's a capable media center pc with a 200 disc CD/DVD changer. The specs aren't too bad, although for a PVR, 200 GB seems low. And at that price... seems a whee expensive, but VAIOs usually are...
Anyway, this is probably your best bet, if you're looking to spend a bit of money.
Am I the only one who was excited about this article just by the site of the name "Will Write". I remember the days of my youth that I wasted (enjoyed) reading the most awesome video game manual *evar*--Sim City for the SNES.
I'd recommend the Samsung line of cheap laser printers. I have a ML-1710, and it prints amazing prints quickly and the toner lasts forever. I paid $100 for the machine, but the replacement toner cartridges run $60. Although, this model has been replaced by the ML-2010?
Also, if you shop around you can get their color laser printer for $300 or so...
Noteworthy piece of information: these printers are definitely not business class printers. If you do a heavy amount of printing... Go with something a wee more expensive.
Wait a minute--I didn't know anyone knew any details about the GPU or the CPU (aside from the manufacturers). Where are you getting your information; I would like to edumacate myself.
So I took a trip to EB Games recently to reserve my own Nintendo Revolution, and I was promptly greeted by a "Sorry Dude... we ain't takin' preorders fer the Revolution."
Once I got passed the "dude's" outrageous lack of self-pride and good grammar. I then asked him if he knew when they might start taking preorders.
*tumbleweed rolls across the store front*
I figured I'd try to talk to him about what he did know about the Revolution.
*tumbleweed rolls across the store front*
Finally... I was like, "Can I speak to your manager". Well. To cut a long story short--by the time I spoke to the manager, I had already spoken to the intelligent one.
What I did find out was rather interesting. Apparently they two gentlemen I spoke to seemed to proclaim the Nintendo system as vaporware, and they seemed about as interested in taking my money as as a cow is when it comes to reality TV.
Normally, I am not a fanboy, and normally I'm not about to go let my $50 slip out to some retailer months before I'll ever see the product, but I figure I'd feed the hype that is the new Nintendo system. I mean, it's not like Microsoft's actually moving very many 360s, and as technologically improved of a system as it is--the software sucks right now. (I don't care what you say--Rare hasn't made a good game since their partnership with Nintendo, and DOA4 is just DOA3++)
It's true, I'll eventually own a PS3, an Xbox 360, and a Revolution. It's true, I'll buy games for all three--and I'm sure I'll enjoy games from all three systems. But what I'm really seeing the problem to be... the Xbox 360 suffers from developer burnout. Number of innovative titles? Zero. Number of innovative titles that I've heard is coming soon. Zero.
But wait--I see you're about to "troll" me. Let's see how low my Karma can go!
PS3. Same problem.
Shoot. Even the revolution. Mario Party 37 is going to be YASWET (Yet Another Some What Entertaining Title).
I guess that's the reason I wish to reserve the Revolution so far in advance, though. Nintendo's got an archive of classic and venerable hits. Games that were fun the first time around--games that are still fun today. Shoot. I've heard a lot of controversy over this feature--free? $0.99? $1.99? When's the madness going to end? Fine. Let them charge. They have every right. They developed (or published) most of these games! I've been clamoring for an emulator based iTunes-type game service for years now! Bring me the games I love.
3d this. polygons that. Bahumbug.
20 years of gaming has brought us nothing new in terms of game play. And it hasn't brought us a longer gameplay experience, either.
I would love for someone to take the same graphics engine from Super Mario Bros. and make it 100 (good) levels longer! The Legend of Zelda with 36 dungeons and the same vintage graphics? No. Instead we get polygons and textures that take up 1000x the space and a game that's 30 minutes shorter (I don't want to hear the arguments about those games with 100+ hours and 47 dungeons--when the only purpose of the extra time is to show off the new 7 discs of prerendered video or the 99.3 hours of tedious leveling up).
So. Here's my argument in a nutshell. I'm in a rush to spend $300 on a system that's going to be outdated in five years (or at the rate microsoft's pushing... 27 months) just so I can play games from when I was a kid without breaking the law. Cheers to a video game industry that by all counts should collapse.
The N64 was ultimately very different from what KI and Cruisin' USA perspective, but also keep in mind other details... with Cruisin' USA, for example, that extra 40 Mhz could have been used for additional processing such as split screen play--since the original arcade machine was networked for multiplayer, the N64 had to do that alone. And as you point out, there were differences. Which goes back to my first remark...
Humour me here--because I know nothing of the lack of linux/airport support--but if if the airport extreme doesn't support linux... why doesn't the linux community write their own drivers/configuration software?
I mean--that's kind of the point of open source software. If you can't find someone else to do it for you, do it yourself, right? Am I missing something here?
I own a Medion Akoya LS laptop. Great little sucker. For those unfamiliar with Medion--they're the PCs that Aldi foods typically sells. I was apprehensive at first when I bought it, but the price swayed my decision heavily ($900 for a 1.6? Ghz Pentium M, 512 MB, 60 GB HDD one year ago). I am very happy with the purchase, but somewhat disappointed when compared to my Fianceé's iBook.
The G4 iBook on the outside looks like a pretty flimsy pile of crap, but once you open it up and start using it, you see Apple's engineering marvel. The thing seems to me like a durable brick, even though it looks like a fragile toy. Performance is good, considering it's a 1.3 Ghz G4--which is respectable, but it won't win any Photoshop or Maya rendering awards. Keep in mind--OS X will run just fine with 1.3 Ghz and 512 MB of RAM...
Which brings me to my desktop PC. A Sony VAIO PCV-RX770. Yeah, I could have built something, but Sony's treated me well when it comes to PCs, and you usually get a decent deal for a prebuilt PC. Anyway at 2.2 Ghz and (now) 1.5 GB of RAM, Windows absolutely sucks up every bit of RAM that it can--performance is about comparable to the 400 Mhz PII that my dad uses (which has an empty software load). Anyway--while the P4 is getting dated, slow performance on a 2.2 Ghz machine compared to the fast, responsive performance on the 1.3 Ghz iBook really tells you something about OS X.
Then there's my G4 iMac. An absolutely beautiful machine, and quite a bargain--a huge, widescreen LCD plus a 1.25 Ghz G4 Mac for (at the time) about $1500. I probably should have upped to the PowerMac for the extra performance, but for most day-to-day use I don't miss it. I will say, I have been doing a lot of encoding using HandBrake, lately, and the H.264 codec runs lousy on the machine--about 5 frames per second on average. (an Intel based PC from the same era can usually up that to about 15029ish frames a second, although I've not found any good and reliable DVD-to-H.264 encoders on a PC--any suggestions Slashdot?). So the iMac is durable, and a decent performer, but no show-stopper for anything aside from the eloquent beauty
Finally there's my Dell Notebook from work (Inspiron D610?). Looks like the most durable of the laptops I own, but when I use it, it feels like the cheapest piece I've ever worked with. I must say, though, the specs of the machine are impressive... 2 gigs of DDR2, a 1.8 (1.7?) Ghz Pentium M, and it outperforms my desktop by a landslide. But... I do feel like I'm going to break it with the most nominal use.
Anyway. I most enjoy using my iMac--and for good reason. It's a wonderfully engineered machine.
Something to note: Most computer failures are not computer failures; they are usually id-10t errors...
I had a friend who worked at Best Buy, and he suggested almost all of their computer returns were mere configuration errors--in fact I hear that's why they've been pushing the Geek Squad so much lately.
So... as for computer failures that I've had... 0, 0, 0, and 0. Well, unless you count the recalled battery for the iBook--but I filled out the form online, and literally in 24 hours at no cost to me I had my replacement battery, and a prepaid box to return the defective unit.
GT4 seemed like just another rehash of the series to me. Don't get me wrong, graphics were excellent for the PS2, and the controls were tight, but I didn't see much in terms of improvement over the previous incarnations...
But then again...I can't say Forza was that great of a game either...
What I do know... is that Mario Kart DS rocks, and next gen got one title right anyway!
Actually, OS X is my primary OS at home. And while it is much closer to being the ideal user interface, there are still things that it lacks.
One thing notable... Browing Computers on your network. If Bonjour or Windows File Sharing doesn't pick it up... there's no quick, easy way to get there (I'm running Panther, Tiger may have changed this, but I dunno).
I suppose I could name others, but I agree with you... OS X is beautiful, but it's not ready to answer every user's needs. The UI I'm picturing would be so perfectly tailored to everyone it could be described... almost as organic...
KDE leaves a lot to be desired for an average user, but Gnome lacks some of the things the power user wants.
This is an age old debate that will carry on until someone successfully does both. Apple's have a very well-thought interface, but it is tougher to get "down and dirty" with it. Windows is a little "Grundgier", and then for ultimate control over your interface, you have Linux.
But to a non-Linux user, both Gnome and KDE are intimidating.
Why can't there be a fair compromise. A simple, easy to use interface that behaves just how you would expect it to... and has the power to do anything you could want? It's not an impossibility, and I think it's something that both KDE and Gnome aren't aiming for. Neither is MS or Apple.
I fail to be impressed. Hardware is a commodity. I don't care what anyone says, the 360 is essentially a very specialized power mac. There's nothing amazing or unparalleled about the production of this console--six months early or not.
Now I will be impressed with the release of the PS3. Why? Because the cell processor is a completely new technology, and as far as I know, there is no other mass produced computer or appliance that utilizes the tech.
But even then. Will I be impressed with the system? Probably about as impressed as I am with the Xbox 360--Which equates to about nada. Wake me up when either of these consoles has the killer app; the game to own. (and I'm not talking about Halo 3 or GTA4.)
But... then again, this generation doesn't look like it'll have any innovative experiences on either of these two systems. Microsoft and Sony are both throwing down more of the same. Yay. Let's hear it for sequels and copy-cats!
Sir, as I formulate my reply I sit here typing at my iMac. You are right. Using this operating system has been one of the most secure experiences I have ever been privileged with. I am more satisfied with my Apple experiences than I have ever been with a Microsoft experience. I will not lie to you on that.
However, as an I.T. professional, I cannot overlook the security flaws that are out there. Think they don't exist? Lookaround, you'llfindthem.
You're right. Owning a Mac is probably the safest thing you can do as a computer user worried about their system's security. But it's not because a Mac is more secure by design. You and I have both read articles about Microsoft bashing Linux's security, and the Linux Community striking back. Let me tell you something; OS X is of close kin to any given Linux Distro. In fact, it shares a lot of similarities with Free BSD, and I assure you the Darwin Kernel is not flawless.
The reality is... Your Mac is more secure because you have a kindred community of macintosh users who would rather use their computers for computing. I suspect that the average Mac Programmer capable of writing a virus just doesn't care to. Which is why no one does./shrug. What do I know, though?
Let's make imaginary statistics here to prove my point. Let's say 1 in 20 computer users is capable of writing software. Let's say 1 in 20 computer programmers finds some value in writing computer viruses. Let's say 1 in 20 computer users use a mac.
Statistically speaking... 1 in 20 * 20 * 20 or 1 in 8000 users would be capable of writing a virus for a mac and have the motive to do so.
Statistically, it's more likely that a virus will be written for a PC than a mac, right?
That's not to say one person isn't capable of writing mac viruses. hehe.
Theoretically, a OS X is susceptable to a good chunk of the exploits of the Darwin Core, which includes potential Unixish virii.
In my experience with a Mac, I've never seen a virus, and I'm probably pretty stupid for not having an antivirus suite. However... It goes back to the user base.
Most people who use / promote Linux either work on it, or know a great enough deal about it that they would rather patch the security breaches they discover (or make aware those who can fix it).
Most people who use / promote OS X use it for multimedia production (which generally means they have specialized computing knowledge), every day use (which means Joe User can barely check his email), or enjoy the experience as a power user (which means they usually won't care to write malware).
Windows on the other hand, is the default OS of thousands of people of all levels. Some use it like the users listed above, and some have a great deal of technical knowledge and free time.
Hypothetical situation here... but if Apple won the Personal Computer marketshare of the mid-to-late 90s, it's very likely that there would be as many viruses for OS X as there are for Windows. The same would apply to Linux or any other operating system.
There's just one thing I have left to question... Is there anyone out there who actually took my post as a light hearted joke? Troll... Flamebait... Insightful... Come on, it was clever and well timed!
(while, yes, I appreciate Macintosh computers, it is true that security issues are of great concern for everyone. It is still important for Mac users to stay updated, just as it is important for everyone else.)
Has anyone else noticed the decline in quality merchandise from Maxis as EA's interventions have increased...
Prime Example... Sim City. Great Game.
Sim City 2000. Wonderful Game.
Sim City 3000. Somewhat enjoyable Game.
Sim City 4. A shameless lust for more money.
The Sims doesn't feel nearly as grand as everyone praises it to be. And the Sims 2 seems to have even less appeal. Does anyone remember the short-lived Sims Online? Was that silently killed by the suck that is EA?
Slashdot Mirror
There were no 128 MB n64 games. In fact, I don't believe there were any 64MB n64 games.
Mario 64 was 64 Megabits... or 8 Megabytes, and the Zelda titles weighed in at something like 4x that... or about 32 MB... Resident Evil 2... that was a large game, too. That may have actually been 64MB.
Bits. Bytes. Meh.
Sony's business divisions are relatively segregated. Not that I agree with the whole rootkit fiasco.
I have been, historically, been satisified with the quality of the two VAIOs that I have bought. They have been well built, durable, and reliable.
I did not make any claims regarding the quality of the XL1--or it's ability to do the job well. As stated, reviews seem to be mixed; some praising it as the greatest invention *evar*, and some scoffing at it's poorly designed software.
What I do know is that the XL1 is the first personal computer that I have found with a 200 disc media changer.
Sony Makes an interesting VAIO now--it's called Sony® VAIO® VGX-XL1 Digital Living System(TM)VGX-XL1.
I don't have $2000 floating around, so I can't exactly test it out for ya, but there are mixed reviews out on the net...
It's an interesting system, actually. In theory, it's a capable media center pc with a 200 disc CD/DVD changer. The specs aren't too bad, although for a PVR, 200 GB seems low. And at that price... seems a whee expensive, but VAIOs usually are...
Anyway, this is probably your best bet, if you're looking to spend a bit of money.
Am I the only one who was excited about this article just by the site of the name "Will Write". I remember the days of my youth that I wasted (enjoyed) reading the most awesome video game manual *evar*--Sim City for the SNES.
Ahh. The Good ol' days...
Boycott?
I'm game.
Gah! One level away from ALL platinums! Gah!
I would just like to clarify your post. The James Bond license for new games is owned by EA, but this isn't a new game, now is it?
Either way, it makes you wonder...
Care to share some Mac development advice with a frustrated Windows developer?
I'd recommend the Samsung line of cheap laser printers. I have a ML-1710, and it prints amazing prints quickly and the toner lasts forever. I paid $100 for the machine, but the replacement toner cartridges run $60. Although, this model has been replaced by the ML-2010?
Also, if you shop around you can get their color laser printer for $300 or so...
Noteworthy piece of information: these printers are definitely not business class printers. If you do a heavy amount of printing... Go with something a wee more expensive.
I just wish to reference one of my recent posts. This summarizes the wreck that is the video game industry today.
Wait a minute--I didn't know anyone knew any details about the GPU or the CPU (aside from the manufacturers). Where are you getting your information; I would like to edumacate myself.
So I took a trip to EB Games recently to reserve my own Nintendo Revolution, and I was promptly greeted by a "Sorry Dude... we ain't takin' preorders fer the Revolution."
Once I got passed the "dude's" outrageous lack of self-pride and good grammar. I then asked him if he knew when they might start taking preorders.
*tumbleweed rolls across the store front*
I figured I'd try to talk to him about what he did know about the Revolution.
*tumbleweed rolls across the store front*
Finally... I was like, "Can I speak to your manager". Well. To cut a long story short--by the time I spoke to the manager, I had already spoken to the intelligent one.
What I did find out was rather interesting. Apparently they two gentlemen I spoke to seemed to proclaim the Nintendo system as vaporware, and they seemed about as interested in taking my money as as a cow is when it comes to reality TV.
Normally, I am not a fanboy, and normally I'm not about to go let my $50 slip out to some retailer months before I'll ever see the product, but I figure I'd feed the hype that is the new Nintendo system. I mean, it's not like Microsoft's actually moving very many 360s, and as technologically improved of a system as it is--the software sucks right now. (I don't care what you say--Rare hasn't made a good game since their partnership with Nintendo, and DOA4 is just DOA3++)
It's true, I'll eventually own a PS3, an Xbox 360, and a Revolution. It's true, I'll buy games for all three--and I'm sure I'll enjoy games from all three systems. But what I'm really seeing the problem to be... the Xbox 360 suffers from developer burnout. Number of innovative titles? Zero. Number of innovative titles that I've heard is coming soon. Zero.
But wait--I see you're about to "troll" me. Let's see how low my Karma can go!
PS3. Same problem.
Shoot. Even the revolution. Mario Party 37 is going to be YASWET (Yet Another Some What Entertaining Title).
I guess that's the reason I wish to reserve the Revolution so far in advance, though. Nintendo's got an archive of classic and venerable hits. Games that were fun the first time around--games that are still fun today. Shoot. I've heard a lot of controversy over this feature--free? $0.99? $1.99? When's the madness going to end? Fine. Let them charge. They have every right. They developed (or published) most of these games! I've been clamoring for an emulator based iTunes-type game service for years now! Bring me the games I love.
3d this. polygons that. Bahumbug.
20 years of gaming has brought us nothing new in terms of game play. And it hasn't brought us a longer gameplay experience, either.
I would love for someone to take the same graphics engine from Super Mario Bros. and make it 100 (good) levels longer! The Legend of Zelda with 36 dungeons and the same vintage graphics? No. Instead we get polygons and textures that take up 1000x the space and a game that's 30 minutes shorter (I don't want to hear the arguments about those games with 100+ hours and 47 dungeons--when the only purpose of the extra time is to show off the new 7 discs of prerendered video or the 99.3 hours of tedious leveling up).
So. Here's my argument in a nutshell. I'm in a rush to spend $300 on a system that's going to be outdated in five years (or at the rate microsoft's pushing... 27 months) just so I can play games from when I was a kid without breaking the law. Cheers to a video game industry that by all counts should collapse.
Processor Speed != Performance.
The N64 was ultimately very different from what KI and Cruisin' USA perspective, but also keep in mind other details... with Cruisin' USA, for example, that extra 40 Mhz could have been used for additional processing such as split screen play--since the original arcade machine was networked for multiplayer, the N64 had to do that alone. And as you point out, there were differences. Which goes back to my first remark...
Processor Speed != Performance.
Humour me here--because I know nothing of the lack of linux/airport support--but if if the airport extreme doesn't support linux... why doesn't the linux community write their own drivers/configuration software?
I mean--that's kind of the point of open source software. If you can't find someone else to do it for you, do it yourself, right? Am I missing something here?
Real responses. Sure. I'll tell you what I think.
/shrug.
I own a Medion Akoya LS laptop. Great little sucker. For those unfamiliar with Medion--they're the PCs that Aldi foods typically sells. I was apprehensive at first when I bought it, but the price swayed my decision heavily ($900 for a 1.6? Ghz Pentium M, 512 MB, 60 GB HDD one year ago). I am very happy with the purchase, but somewhat disappointed when compared to my Fianceé's iBook.
The G4 iBook on the outside looks like a pretty flimsy pile of crap, but once you open it up and start using it, you see Apple's engineering marvel. The thing seems to me like a durable brick, even though it looks like a fragile toy. Performance is good, considering it's a 1.3 Ghz G4--which is respectable, but it won't win any Photoshop or Maya rendering awards. Keep in mind--OS X will run just fine with 1.3 Ghz and 512 MB of RAM...
Which brings me to my desktop PC. A Sony VAIO PCV-RX770. Yeah, I could have built something, but Sony's treated me well when it comes to PCs, and you usually get a decent deal for a prebuilt PC. Anyway at 2.2 Ghz and (now) 1.5 GB of RAM, Windows absolutely sucks up every bit of RAM that it can--performance is about comparable to the 400 Mhz PII that my dad uses (which has an empty software load). Anyway--while the P4 is getting dated, slow performance on a 2.2 Ghz machine compared to the fast, responsive performance on the 1.3 Ghz iBook really tells you something about OS X.
Then there's my G4 iMac. An absolutely beautiful machine, and quite a bargain--a huge, widescreen LCD plus a 1.25 Ghz G4 Mac for (at the time) about $1500. I probably should have upped to the PowerMac for the extra performance, but for most day-to-day use I don't miss it. I will say, I have been doing a lot of encoding using HandBrake, lately, and the H.264 codec runs lousy on the machine--about 5 frames per second on average. (an Intel based PC from the same era can usually up that to about 15029ish frames a second, although I've not found any good and reliable DVD-to-H.264 encoders on a PC--any suggestions Slashdot?). So the iMac is durable, and a decent performer, but no show-stopper for anything aside from the eloquent beauty
Finally there's my Dell Notebook from work (Inspiron D610?). Looks like the most durable of the laptops I own, but when I use it, it feels like the cheapest piece I've ever worked with. I must say, though, the specs of the machine are impressive... 2 gigs of DDR2, a 1.8 (1.7?) Ghz Pentium M, and it outperforms my desktop by a landslide. But... I do feel like I'm going to break it with the most nominal use.
Anyway. I most enjoy using my iMac--and for good reason. It's a wonderfully engineered machine.
Something to note: Most computer failures are not computer failures; they are usually id-10t errors... I had a friend who worked at Best Buy, and he suggested almost all of their computer returns were mere configuration errors--in fact I hear that's why they've been pushing the Geek Squad so much lately.
So... as for computer failures that I've had... 0, 0, 0, and 0. Well, unless you count the recalled battery for the iBook--but I filled out the form online, and literally in 24 hours at no cost to me I had my replacement battery, and a prepaid box to return the defective unit.
GT4 seemed like just another rehash of the series to me. Don't get me wrong, graphics were excellent for the PS2, and the controls were tight, but I didn't see much in terms of improvement over the previous incarnations...
But then again...I can't say Forza was that great of a game either...
What I do know... is that Mario Kart DS rocks, and next gen got one title right anyway!
Actually, OS X is my primary OS at home. And while it is much closer to being the ideal user interface, there are still things that it lacks.
One thing notable... Browing Computers on your network. If Bonjour or Windows File Sharing doesn't pick it up... there's no quick, easy way to get there (I'm running Panther, Tiger may have changed this, but I dunno).
I suppose I could name others, but I agree with you... OS X is beautiful, but it's not ready to answer every user's needs. The UI I'm picturing would be so perfectly tailored to everyone it could be described... almost as organic...
I agree with you. To an extent.
KDE leaves a lot to be desired for an average user, but Gnome lacks some of the things the power user wants.
This is an age old debate that will carry on until someone successfully does both. Apple's have a very well-thought interface, but it is tougher to get "down and dirty" with it. Windows is a little "Grundgier", and then for ultimate control over your interface, you have Linux.
But to a non-Linux user, both Gnome and KDE are intimidating.
Why can't there be a fair compromise. A simple, easy to use interface that behaves just how you would expect it to... and has the power to do anything you could want? It's not an impossibility, and I think it's something that both KDE and Gnome aren't aiming for. Neither is MS or Apple.
Anyone care to accept this task?
I fail to be impressed. Hardware is a commodity. I don't care what anyone says, the 360 is essentially a very specialized power mac. There's nothing amazing or unparalleled about the production of this console--six months early or not.
Now I will be impressed with the release of the PS3. Why? Because the cell processor is a completely new technology, and as far as I know, there is no other mass produced computer or appliance that utilizes the tech.
But even then. Will I be impressed with the system? Probably about as impressed as I am with the Xbox 360--Which equates to about nada. Wake me up when either of these consoles has the killer app; the game to own. (and I'm not talking about Halo 3 or GTA4.)
But... then again, this generation doesn't look like it'll have any innovative experiences on either of these two systems. Microsoft and Sony are both throwing down more of the same. Yay. Let's hear it for sequels and copy-cats!
Sir, as I formulate my reply I sit here typing at my iMac. You are right. Using this operating system has been one of the most secure experiences I have ever been privileged with. I am more satisfied with my Apple experiences than I have ever been with a Microsoft experience. I will not lie to you on that.
/shrug. What do I know, though?
However, as an I.T. professional, I cannot overlook the security flaws that are out there. Think they don't exist? Look around, you'll find them.
You're right. Owning a Mac is probably the safest thing you can do as a computer user worried about their system's security. But it's not because a Mac is more secure by design. You and I have both read articles about Microsoft bashing Linux's security, and the Linux Community striking back. Let me tell you something; OS X is of close kin to any given Linux Distro. In fact, it shares a lot of similarities with Free BSD, and I assure you the Darwin Kernel is not flawless.
The reality is... Your Mac is more secure because you have a kindred community of macintosh users who would rather use their computers for computing. I suspect that the average Mac Programmer capable of writing a virus just doesn't care to. Which is why no one does.
Ok. Let me rephrase that.
Let's make imaginary statistics here to prove my point. Let's say 1 in 20 computer users is capable of writing software. Let's say 1 in 20 computer programmers finds some value in writing computer viruses. Let's say 1 in 20 computer users use a mac.
Statistically speaking... 1 in 20 * 20 * 20 or 1 in 8000 users would be capable of writing a virus for a mac and have the motive to do so.
Statistically, it's more likely that a virus will be written for a PC than a mac, right?
That's not to say one person isn't capable of writing mac viruses. hehe.
Theoretically, a OS X is susceptable to a good chunk of the exploits of the Darwin Core, which includes potential Unixish virii.
In my experience with a Mac, I've never seen a virus, and I'm probably pretty stupid for not having an antivirus suite. However... It goes back to the user base.
Most people who use / promote Linux either work on it, or know a great enough deal about it that they would rather patch the security breaches they discover (or make aware those who can fix it).
Most people who use / promote OS X use it for multimedia production (which generally means they have specialized computing knowledge), every day use (which means Joe User can barely check his email), or enjoy the experience as a power user (which means they usually won't care to write malware).
Windows on the other hand, is the default OS of thousands of people of all levels. Some use it like the users listed above, and some have a great deal of technical knowledge and free time.
Hypothetical situation here... but if Apple won the Personal Computer marketshare of the mid-to-late 90s, it's very likely that there would be as many viruses for OS X as there are for Windows. The same would apply to Linux or any other operating system.
There's just one thing I have left to question... Is there anyone out there who actually took my post as a light hearted joke? Troll... Flamebait... Insightful... Come on, it was clever and well timed!
Buy a Mac. :p
(while, yes, I appreciate Macintosh computers, it is true that security issues are of great concern for everyone. It is still important for Mac users to stay updated, just as it is important for everyone else.)
Has anyone else noticed the decline in quality merchandise from Maxis as EA's interventions have increased...
/shrug.
Prime Example... Sim City. Great Game.
Sim City 2000. Wonderful Game.
Sim City 3000. Somewhat enjoyable Game.
Sim City 4. A shameless lust for more money.
The Sims doesn't feel nearly as grand as everyone praises it to be. And the Sims 2 seems to have even less appeal. Does anyone remember the short-lived Sims Online? Was that silently killed by the suck that is EA?