I think one of the main reasons is lower apple market share means less virus writers. Also windows has to support a lot of legacy crap which creates vulnerabilities.
That is big talk from someone (ostensibly) using an OS (Linux) with many times more malware than OS X/macOS has had (there isn't even a Wikipedia Article for OS X Malware!) in its sixteen-year history, but with far less marketshare.
Kinda blows the "Security through Obsurity" meme out of the water, doesn't it?
its probably true, its probably also not because apple is that much superior. its probably a combination between less virusses
Excuse me. That's not less (self-replicating) Viruses. That's none. Zero. Zip. Nada. For the entire sixteen years of OS X. Not one "Virus" on OS X (macOS) that can propagate without the User's knowledge and consent.
Macs are more reliable/require less support because there is very little a corporation or end user can add to it, to customize it beyond built-to-order.
And just HOW many people need to do that in a typical Office environment?
Honestly, unless you are talking high-end Game development, very high-end Data Aquisition, or a few other highly-specialized trades, there is virtually no reason to need non-typical computing hardware.
Could be partly hardware issues related to cheap laptops and such, but mostly windows problems like viruses and malware I'm sure.
I think that IBM purchases Lenovo laptops exclusively for their Windows-Saddled (and possibly Linux-Hobbled) employees and contractors. So, unless all the Slashdotters on here that continually sing the praises of Lenovo hardware are lying, it shouldn't be the hardware that is the issue.
You know what else isn't a good solution? IT constantly throwing buckets of shit at the wall because it neither understands the business process nor the piles of crap "solutions" it's buying from vendors at ever escalating fiscal and productivity costs.
Was that pointless rant in the support of a particular "side" in this conversation? Because it just sounds like the braying of animals to me...
You have to spend a LOT on other stupid things to just begin to catch up with the cost of an Apple product.
IBM's "sample size" is undeniably large enough to be classified as "Statistically Significant".
They are not in the business of "shilling" for Apple.
They have run the numbers.
You are dead wrong. Period. And we Mac owners have been saying this for over 10 years. It's high time that somebody with some serious IT infrastructure took an honest look at the numbers.
What I worry about is not the 10 Linux Desktops on the Planet; but the gazillion of devices running Embedded Linux. NONE of them will receive an update that will resolve this, and if it happens to be in some IoT or Networking device (let's say, a Router...), you are pwned, or most certainly can be.
So, with the "Many Eyes" theory, how does a bug like this exist for NINE YEARS? I don't CARE how "obscure" the code is; surely SOMEONE can spot a logic flaw or buffer-overrun error in that time, even in code they don't fully understand!
This is much like the long-lurking SSL vulnerability a couple of years back. Did that ever get fully resolved?
Hmm, maybe once. These are work computers so generally they upgrade of IT does an image transfer. But once I got a loaner and then they told me to keep the loaner as they couldn't fix the mac, so I used time machine to get home directory and personal settings transferred. Next time I think I do want to start fresh, spend extra time only copying over real data files instead of the whole Library & Documents.
Well honestly, I wish I could be of more assistance; but I really haven't heard of anything even remotely as weird as what you are describing, sorry!
Yeah, a clean install might be worth pursuing. Just like any modern OS, there are a zillion hidden knobs and switches, and all it takes is one never-reinitialized-variable, and...
They didn't necessarily have any technical expertise. They had social engineering expertise which is something entirely different. In fact the 2 are often not really related. The stereotypical technical person (geek/nerd) is not known for their social engineering abilities.
You realize, of course, that you have just replaced one Stereotype with another, right?
So much for the popular meme with some Slashdotters that iPhone users are idiots that only use Apple products because they don't know anything about "tech".
Sounds like that particular iPhone user knew exactly how to take over someone's online identity. That implies at least some level of expertise in matters other than the "Ooh, shiny!" that some Slashdotters think is the norm with those who use Apple.
Of course I am sort of joking; but the underlying facts are still there...
El Capitan now, but I've had problems since Leopard. It's better than it was but not completely gone.
The only similar thing I can think of is the fact that there seems to be some weirdness with "forgetting" icon arrangements on the Desktop starting in Snow Leopard (IIRC), that I don't think was truly fixed for several major revisions. For some reason, it seems to affect some more than others; but I don't think I have ever heard of something where windows get squozen-down to a thin line.
I'm not switching to lower resolutions. I disabled all the retina junk and made my laptop resolution identical to my external monitors. It resizes windows, sometimes down to a thin title bar, sometimes windows are moved off screen except for a one pixel wide handle. I've ended up with a 1 by 2 inch window for some reason. And that's all before I connect to a projector or something else with smaller resolutions.
The whole concept is fundamentally flawed by design. We won't see TVs take USB-C as an input on a broad scale any time soon, because there's a huge installed base of equipment that standardized on HDMI back when Apple was still arguing about whether FireWire was better than USB. When you're manufacturing equipment with a life expectancy measured in decades rather than the three-year replacement cycle for computers and cell phones, backwards compatibility is an absolute requirement. So any transition from HDMI to USB-C, if that's even possible, will take at least 1-2 decades before it is complete. Until then, we're stuck with adapters.
Is it a good idea to make USB-C available? Yes. Is it a good idea to make it possible to pass video over USB-C? Yes. Is it the right time to ditch HDMI compatibility? Heck, no.
What are you smoking, and can I have some? I'm almost out...
I never suggested that TVs would switch from HDMI to USB-C. I was just saying that, with a general-purpose, high-speed, serial bus such as USB-C, you are only an inexpensive adapter away from a wide range of interfaces (including HDMI).
And as far as "listening to customers" goes, I think that Apple actually has a better track record of that than most. People hated scroll-bar direction-changes. Apple said "You can now have it either way".
Yeah, except that we hated it internally long before the public hated it, yet it didn't become an option until people screamed publicly. Apple's culture often behaves like a cult of personalities, where people blindly continue down the path chosen by a decision-maker even when dozens of people think they're wrong. IMO, the failure to accept internal criticism and adapt is Apple's biggest flaw, and if anything will be its downfall, it will be that.
So, you work for Apple?
Corporate Group-Think is never good, true; but it is also somewhat inevitable, because people (probably unnecessarily) fear for their jobs, and thus the pressure to be part of the 'herd" is nearly impossible for most people to overcome.
The problem is not unique to Apple, not by a long-shot. Doesn't make it right; but it does make it understandable.
Especially since we are talking about China, where actually paying for software is almost a crime!
I guess this proves that Apple's App Store model really, really works. Because, if you can get the average Chinese person to pay for software, you have done something that pretty much no one else has been able to accomplish!
Nobody buying a $2500 pro laptop in 2016 is concerned about the cost of a few ports.
I agree with that; but those same people want a laptop that has serious I/O bandwidth and the best-possible flexibility to meet their needs at a particular time (which are more likely to change, and be markedly different from user-to-user, for those same "serious users").
Fewer options is greater freedoms! Taking things out provides more flexibility! What double think! What newspeak! Much wow!
You are so not getting it!
What good is a dedicatedHDMI port if what you REALLY need is another port to connect to a SAN? What good is a dedicated Ethernet Port when what you really need another USB?
So, having multiple, high-speed, identical I/O ports that can be easily and relatively inexpensively be adapted to one or more simultaneous uses is actually much more flexible and "future-proof" than having a fixed-number of dedicated ports. It. Just. Is.
It's reached the point where I'm considering buying a thunderbolt dock to keep in my laptop bag. Has all the ports I'll need, and I'm less likely to misplace or forget it. And its cheaper than the combined price of all the hubs, adapters, and dongles I currently need to carry around.
Now you're getting it! I couldn't agree more! If you have a set of often-used single-use or "legacy" ports you need on a regular basis, by all means, get a Dock/Hub! That actually makes much more sense, and again, provides you with much more freedom to provide the I/O that you need.
Now, tell me again: Exactly how is this a Bad Thing? How does it make the MacBook Pro less "Pro"?
Thanks for that, even if I think that eventually with enough trippings of such a cable, the connector will damage the on-board female adapter and break the solder.
That's always a concern with SMT connectors, especially now that we have that despicable RoHS that ruined ALL solder connections for EVERYONE (except the Aerospace industry; because they KNEW better than to allow it!).
That is a good reason, indeed, I was merely pointing out that you don't HAVE TO use a usb mouse on a Mac. Their USB ports, even when they had them were too few anyway, to use one for a mouse is waste one could rarely afford.
Why would you use a mouse with a Mac laptop anyway? Their trackpads are already light-years ahead of any stupid mouse or trackball.
The solution seems simple to me. Stop giving Apple your money. There's nothing revolutionary about macs except the ways they extort you in to paying more after the fact.
So sez the person who hasn't spent two seconds actually using a Mac since 1987.
Or need to carry around another stupid converter for every single device I might want to use?
Seriously, how many is that? I would guess that it is at most 2 or 3. Whoop-de-doo. If it bothers you that much, get a USB-C hub. They're way small enough to fit in a computer bag or backpack these days, and are actually more convenient, since you don't have to have a bunch of cables jammed-up on the side of the laptop.
Slashdot Mirror
I think one of the main reasons is lower apple market share means less virus writers. Also windows has to support a lot of legacy crap which creates vulnerabilities.
That is big talk from someone (ostensibly) using an OS (Linux) with many times more malware than OS X/macOS has had (there isn't even a Wikipedia Article for OS X Malware!) in its sixteen-year history, but with far less marketshare.
Kinda blows the "Security through Obsurity" meme out of the water, doesn't it?
its probably true, its probably also not because apple is that much superior. its probably a combination between less virusses
Excuse me. That's not less (self-replicating) Viruses. That's none. Zero. Zip. Nada. For the entire sixteen years of OS X. Not one "Virus" on OS X (macOS) that can propagate without the User's knowledge and consent.
As an I.T. Support contractor, we call that job security.
And therein lies the REAL problem with the placement of Macs in the Workplace: Fear of the Computer Priesthood.
Do not even try to deny it. I have had more than one Windows Admin. tell me exactly what you said.
Macs are more reliable/require less support because there is very little a corporation or end user can add to it, to customize it beyond built-to-order.
And just HOW many people need to do that in a typical Office environment?
Honestly, unless you are talking high-end Game development, very high-end Data Aquisition, or a few other highly-specialized trades, there is virtually no reason to need non-typical computing hardware.
Could be partly hardware issues related to cheap laptops and such, but mostly windows problems like viruses and malware I'm sure.
I think that IBM purchases Lenovo laptops exclusively for their Windows-Saddled (and possibly Linux-Hobbled) employees and contractors. So, unless all the Slashdotters on here that continually sing the praises of Lenovo hardware are lying, it shouldn't be the hardware that is the issue.
But it is a factor, when compared with Apple.
You know what else isn't a good solution? IT constantly throwing buckets of shit at the wall because it neither understands the business process nor the piles of crap "solutions" it's buying from vendors at ever escalating fiscal and productivity costs.
Was that pointless rant in the support of a particular "side" in this conversation? Because it just sounds like the braying of animals to me...
You have to spend a LOT on other stupid things to just begin to catch up with the cost of an Apple product.
IBM's "sample size" is undeniably large enough to be classified as "Statistically Significant".
They are not in the business of "shilling" for Apple.
They have run the numbers.
You are dead wrong. Period. And we Mac owners have been saying this for over 10 years. It's high time that somebody with some serious IT infrastructure took an honest look at the numbers.
And they did.
Now, Witness the Result.
What I worry about is not the 10 Linux Desktops on the Planet; but the gazillion of devices running Embedded Linux. NONE of them will receive an update that will resolve this, and if it happens to be in some IoT or Networking device (let's say, a Router...), you are pwned, or most certainly can be.
So, with the "Many Eyes" theory, how does a bug like this exist for NINE YEARS? I don't CARE how "obscure" the code is; surely SOMEONE can spot a logic flaw or buffer-overrun error in that time, even in code they don't fully understand!
This is much like the long-lurking SSL vulnerability a couple of years back. Did that ever get fully resolved?
Still better than the alternatives
Um, I beg to differ...
Hmm, maybe once. These are work computers so generally they upgrade of IT does an image transfer. But once I got a loaner and then they told me to keep the loaner as they couldn't fix the mac, so I used time machine to get home directory and personal settings transferred. Next time I think I do want to start fresh, spend extra time only copying over real data files instead of the whole Library & Documents.
Well honestly, I wish I could be of more assistance; but I really haven't heard of anything even remotely as weird as what you are describing, sorry!
Yeah, a clean install might be worth pursuing. Just like any modern OS, there are a zillion hidden knobs and switches, and all it takes is one never-reinitialized-variable, and...
They didn't necessarily have any technical expertise. They had social engineering expertise which is something entirely different. In fact the 2 are often not really related. The stereotypical technical person (geek/nerd) is not known for their social engineering abilities.
You realize, of course, that you have just replaced one Stereotype with another, right?
So much for the popular meme with some Slashdotters that iPhone users are idiots that only use Apple products because they don't know anything about "tech".
Sounds like that particular iPhone user knew exactly how to take over someone's online identity. That implies at least some level of expertise in matters other than the "Ooh, shiny!" that some Slashdotters think is the norm with those who use Apple.
Of course I am sort of joking; but the underlying facts are still there...
El Capitan now, but I've had problems since Leopard. It's better than it was but not completely gone.
The only similar thing I can think of is the fact that there seems to be some weirdness with "forgetting" icon arrangements on the Desktop starting in Snow Leopard (IIRC), that I don't think was truly fixed for several major revisions. For some reason, it seems to affect some more than others; but I don't think I have ever heard of something where windows get squozen-down to a thin line.
This little Freeware Application might help.
Also, I assume you have done at least ONE "Clean Install" of OS X along the way, yes?
I'm not switching to lower resolutions. I disabled all the retina junk and made my laptop resolution identical to my external monitors. It resizes windows, sometimes down to a thin title bar, sometimes windows are moved off screen except for a one pixel wide handle. I've ended up with a 1 by 2 inch window for some reason. And that's all before I connect to a projector or something else with smaller resolutions.
Hmm. That's odd. What version of OS X?
nVidia supporting it and Apple supporting it are 2 very different things.
I thought Metal was partially based on, or could at least use, Open CL. If that's the case, why wouldn't Apple support it?
The whole concept is fundamentally flawed by design. We won't see TVs take USB-C as an input on a broad scale any time soon, because there's a huge installed base of equipment that standardized on HDMI back when Apple was still arguing about whether FireWire was better than USB. When you're manufacturing equipment with a life expectancy measured in decades rather than the three-year replacement cycle for computers and cell phones, backwards compatibility is an absolute requirement. So any transition from HDMI to USB-C, if that's even possible, will take at least 1-2 decades before it is complete. Until then, we're stuck with adapters.
Is it a good idea to make USB-C available? Yes. Is it a good idea to make it possible to pass video over USB-C? Yes. Is it the right time to ditch HDMI compatibility? Heck, no.
What are you smoking, and can I have some? I'm almost out...
I never suggested that TVs would switch from HDMI to USB-C. I was just saying that, with a general-purpose, high-speed, serial bus such as USB-C, you are only an inexpensive adapter away from a wide range of interfaces (including HDMI).
Yeah, except that we hated it internally long before the public hated it, yet it didn't become an option until people screamed publicly. Apple's culture often behaves like a cult of personalities, where people blindly continue down the path chosen by a decision-maker even when dozens of people think they're wrong. IMO, the failure to accept internal criticism and adapt is Apple's biggest flaw, and if anything will be its downfall, it will be that.
So, you work for Apple?
Corporate Group-Think is never good, true; but it is also somewhat inevitable, because people (probably unnecessarily) fear for their jobs, and thus the pressure to be part of the 'herd" is nearly impossible for most people to overcome.
The problem is not unique to Apple, not by a long-shot. Doesn't make it right; but it does make it understandable.
Especially since we are talking about China, where actually paying for software is almost a crime!
I guess this proves that Apple's App Store model really, really works. Because, if you can get the average Chinese person to pay for software, you have done something that pretty much no one else has been able to accomplish!
Apple has never been big in China.
ORLY? Then what's up with this article?
Care to explain?
Are there malware in Apple Store?
There have been a FEW isolated cases; but VERY few. And far-between.
And they get removed almost as quickly as they appear in any case.
Nobody buying a $2500 pro laptop in 2016 is concerned about the cost of a few ports.
I agree with that; but those same people want a laptop that has serious I/O bandwidth and the best-possible flexibility to meet their needs at a particular time (which are more likely to change, and be markedly different from user-to-user, for those same "serious users").
Fewer options is greater freedoms! Taking things out provides more flexibility! What double think! What newspeak! Much wow!
You are so not getting it!
What good is a dedicatedHDMI port if what you REALLY need is another port to connect to a SAN? What good is a dedicated Ethernet Port when what you really need another USB? So, having multiple, high-speed, identical I/O ports that can be easily and relatively inexpensively be adapted to one or more simultaneous uses is actually much more flexible and "future-proof" than having a fixed-number of dedicated ports. It. Just. Is.
It's reached the point where I'm considering buying a thunderbolt dock to keep in my laptop bag. Has all the ports I'll need, and I'm less likely to misplace or forget it. And its cheaper than the combined price of all the hubs, adapters, and dongles I currently need to carry around.
Now you're getting it! I couldn't agree more! If you have a set of often-used single-use or "legacy" ports you need on a regular basis, by all means, get a Dock/Hub! That actually makes much more sense, and again, provides you with much more freedom to provide the I/O that you need.
Now, tell me again: Exactly how is this a Bad Thing? How does it make the MacBook Pro less "Pro"?
Thanks for that, even if I think that eventually with enough trippings of such a cable, the connector will damage the on-board female adapter and break the solder.
That's always a concern with SMT connectors, especially now that we have that despicable RoHS that ruined ALL solder connections for EVERYONE (except the Aerospace industry; because they KNEW better than to allow it!).
That is a good reason, indeed, I was merely pointing out that you don't HAVE TO use a usb mouse on a Mac. Their USB ports, even when they had them were too few anyway, to use one for a mouse is waste one could rarely afford.
Why would you use a mouse with a Mac laptop anyway? Their trackpads are already light-years ahead of any stupid mouse or trackball.
The solution seems simple to me. Stop giving Apple your money. There's nothing revolutionary about macs except the ways they extort you in to paying more after the fact.
So sez the person who hasn't spent two seconds actually using a Mac since 1987.
Or need to carry around another stupid converter for every single device I might want to use?
Seriously, how many is that? I would guess that it is at most 2 or 3. Whoop-de-doo. If it bothers you that much, get a USB-C hub. They're way small enough to fit in a computer bag or backpack these days, and are actually more convenient, since you don't have to have a bunch of cables jammed-up on the side of the laptop.