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misteroriginal · 09-13-2005, 04:31 AM,

I just got another virus on the PC. I haven't had one on the Mac ever. With the PC, everything has to be scanned, and everybody has to be a security expert of sorts. Right now we're trying to figure out how to "close ports" on XP.

Point is, noone in their right minds would by a Mac, so noone in their right minds would waste time writing a virus for one. As cheap as Mac minis are these days, they make really nice & secure email & communication devices.

Bet the ROI (Ha! A business term!) is short since you don't have to buy Anti-Virus, waste time with security issues, and don't have to drink as much.

rose · (This post was last modified: 09-14-2005, 03:27 AM by rose.)

Do a search for "macintosh" here http://vil.nai.com/vil/advsearch.asp or here http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avc...earch.html . Symantec lists 2871 mac viruses. Norton Anti-Virus for Mac Tongue

misteroriginal · 09-14-2005, 12:19 PM,

I don't know of a single case of a Mac with the latest security updates getting a virus. For my PC-user friends, most (including myself) get virus's at least once a year. Lucky me, I got two this year. There is NO question that security is a Mac strength and advantage over the PC.

rose · 09-16-2005, 09:16 PM,

aren't macs and windows PCs the same thing? Angel1

mac

windows

Nat · 09-16-2005, 09:29 PM,

[quote author=misteroriginal link=topic=384.msg1570#msg1570 date=1126700389]For my PC-user friends, most (including myself) get virus's at least once a year. Lucky me, I got two this year.[/quote]

I use a PC and I haven't had a virus on it in years, but then I have a rule with myself:

#1 - I never ever open any attachments in any email I receive no matter who it's from (even if it's from DH). Even if it's a picture I won't open it - nothing gets opened (nor do I click any links in any emails).

#2 - I rarely ever download anything from the internet and if I do I make sure I scan it with 2 updated virus scanners before opening it.

Following those two rules I've can't even remember how many years it's been since I had a virus.

***mandy*** · 09-16-2005, 10:30 PM,

Macworld Expo Boston cancelled

Quote:The event, which has been a mainstay of East Coast conferences for almost 20 years, has been axed

misteroriginal · 09-17-2005, 03:57 AM,

[quote author=Nat link=topic=384.msg1668#msg1668 date=1126906172]

I use a PC and I haven't had a virus on it in years, but then I have a rule with myself:

#1 - I never ever open any attachments in any email I receive no matter who it's from (even if it's from DH). Even if it's a picture I won't open it - nothing gets opened (nor do I click any links in any emails).

#2 - I rarely ever download anything from the internet and if I do I make sure I scan it with 2 updated virus scanners before opening it.

Following those two rules I've can't even remember how many years it's been since I had a virus.
[/quote]

Thanks for making my point: On the Mac, I follow no rules. On the PC, I have LIMITED use because of self-imposed rules and still got two virus's. Hence, there is an ROI on owning a Mac.

[quote author=mandy link=topic=384.msg1672#msg1672 date=1126909849]
Macworld Expo Boston cancelled

Quote:The event, which has been a mainstay of East Coast conferences for almost 20 years, has been axed

[/quote]

I use a Mac and a PC, and would BE HAPPY TO USE Solaris, UNIX, IRIX, LINUX, UNIX, OS/2, etc. I don't see a need for a conference dedicated to any one operating system.

My beef with Microsoft is very simple. They design software to be incompatible. Kinda like eBay on it's WORST day only it's every single day with Microsoft. The other funny thing is reading all the emails complaining about eBay when half of it is Microsoft's fault! Laughing7

Nat · 09-17-2005, 04:18 PM,

Even though I use my pc about 95% of the time I do have also have a Mac but it is a laptop (I don't like laptops too much). I could get used to a laptop if I had to so that's really not an issue but one of the biggest reasons I don't use the Mac laptop more is because of programs. Most programs I use on the PC are also on the Mac but there are a few that I absolutely need to use that don't come in a Mac version and that made my final decision on which to use - pc or mac. If those programs came in Mac version - I probably would go over to a Mac.

I know what you mean about not having to changing the way you use a computer on a Mac compared to a pc as my DH uses a Mac all the time and he just loves it - he highly recommends it to everyone. But it's the program thing that's stopping me.

So in the meantime I continue to use my pc and stick to my rules and I also use Firefox so that keeps a lot of spyware away (but I'm sure that people will start creating spyware to Firefox too one of these days).

misteroriginal · 09-17-2005, 08:07 PM,

[quote author=Nat link=topic=384.msg1705#msg1705 date=1126973920]
Even though I use my pc about 95% of the time I do have also have a Mac
...
So in the meantime I continue to use my pc and stick to my rules and I also use Firefox so that keeps a lot of spyware away (but I'm sure that people will start creating spyware to Firefox too one of these days).
[/quote]
OK. At least you've made an informed decision.

I think Firefox will always be far more secure than Internet Explorer. People complain about Firefox not being as "feature-rich" as Internet Explorer, but those nifty features create tons of security risks. Firefox (I hope) will always make security a higher priority.

bargainbloodhound · 09-17-2005, 08:57 PM,

Quote: But it's the program thing that's stopping me.

Same here. I think Windows is a bug ridden security nightmare and I would never use it on a web server, but the program thingee has forced me to use it as my main desktop operating system since 1996 (before that I used OS/2). If I could get around the program thing...I still wouldn't use a Mac Smile

...I would switch to either Linux or Solaris.

Quote:I think Firefox will always be far more secure than Internet Explorer.

So far in its short life its had almost as many serious security holes as IE. I'm really not holding my breath waiting for the developers of either browser to suddenly change their almost decade long pattern of producing flawed browsers (The Mozilla/Netscape/Firefox team has never proven it is capable of this with any of its offerings, and the only thing IE's developers have proven is that they are a hacker's best friend).