Why would someone buy a Mac?

Sad Professor

While it's certainly a factor, I disagree with the old small-market-share-argument for the lack of Mac viruses. I seem to recall there being quite a few pre-OSX Mac OS viruses. However, since the arrival of OS X, during which time the Mac's market-share has increased, there's been little or nothing to speak of except a few trojans which can't do anything unless the user lets them. But they can thrive on any operating system.

Real viruses require unfettered administrative access to the system to do their thing. OS X's Unix underpinnings automatically limits the user's power. To give software root access you must enter a password. The success of a virus is really in its ability to spread and as I understand it viruses have a hard time doing so in Unix as it was built from the ground up as a multi-user and networking operating system.

Windows, on the other hand, with its single-user architecture which gave the user full administrative access was an easy target for hackers and virus makers. Vista's UAC has been a belated attempt to correct this but the results have been mixed. Windows programs love their admin access so the constant pop-ups are an annoyance so ya can't blame people for turning it off. Windows was just never designed with security in mind and I don't think any amount of band aids plastered over the front door is going to stop the vermin from getting in.

I've no doubt that if the Mac had greater market-share viruses would become an issue (compared to the non-issue they are now). However, I still don't think virus-makers would experience the same ease as they've had with exploiting Windows.

Besides, look at how excited the PC blog sites get when a supposed Mac security vulnerability pops up. Surely there's a great desire out there to wipe that smug grin off the face of Mac users. Imagine the fame the potential hacker/virus-maker would get. If Macs are just as vulnerable as Windows why haven't they done so already?

Dorsanty

jahalpin wrote: »

The lowest Intel Mac is based on an Intel Core CPU, Windows will install on all PC's with this kind of chip.

Wow, that's certainly a statement and a half. Installing an OS is more about ensuring support for motherboard chipset and less about which CPU you've got. I've come across a good few situations of having to find a driver for the disk controller so that windows would see the primary disk. And windows only lets you use a floppy drive to provide the drivers at install time. So I actually had to patch the windows cd with the drivers and make a new cd which would support the disk controller on the system I was installing. I lost hours of my life doing that so it is a good thing I got paid. God damn HP and their hardware!

jahalpin wrote: »

The Mac downloads a lot of patches and updates, probably more than Windows.

Does any user really care? Maybe when it was back on dialup internet connections and update traffic meant leaving your computer have some alone time for a few hours. I'd rather see a count of the number of unpatched exploitable bugs for each OS on a weekly basis over the last 2 years.

jahalpin wrote: »

Windows Vista can automatically download drivers for most hardware automatically and gives you a far bigger choice of hardware than a Mac

Wow Vista can use the internet This automatic download is good and has been around since XP and maybe Windows 2000, but good luck to you if your wifi card or lan card is the driver you need. And it has let me down with many bits of hardware in the past. For Apple controlling the hardware means they can ensure a small set of well written drivers for the core system components and not the hodge podge of crap some companies produce for windows. Creative's X-fi drivers have blue screened my Vista system so many times I wouldn't dare count them. Other companies do better but the mass of hardware windows has to cope with makes it difficult to ensure quality and bloats windows itself. Linux wins in this situation as you can trim the OS kernel to only know about the hardware you use and not 10 other motherboards and 20 other disk controllers and loads more network cards. However Apple's next OS revision will drop PowerPC support and this will nearly half it's install footprint. When is the last time you heard about Windows shrinking?

jahalpin wrote: »

As for the bundled apps on a Mac, Vista comes with comparable apps for most of these by default. I personally find Safari to be a terrible browser and much prefer IE 8, I use Firefox on my Mac Mini as it is far superior to Safari.

iLife's set of apps whoops any of the pre-installed apps on a Vista or Windows 7 machine. As for Safari I personally don't like it or use it but since it's not the only choice for a browser on OS X it is not an issue. Similar to why you shouldn't avoid Windows because of IE's presence.

Each of the major OS platforms has it's good points and bad points depending on what you need or want. Why people think everyone should use what they use and all others are therefore crap is annoying. For the most part people are using what they should be because it satisfies their needs. The only real bad choice would be putting up with something which doesn't do what you want.

Anyway, now for a piss take of the whole damn argument.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rjpn3L3bSJQ

Conor108

I'd rarely get any virus on my XP machine (and I do download stuff). With a decent firewall and anti-virus and just proper maintainence its fine.

Tea_Bag

my only comment on this subject is the virus thing.

im running xp and have been using it for as long as i can remember, and to date ive had 1, yes 1 virus that was a neusance. i may have had a handful of spyware attemps, but even windows firewall was able to block them.

the people who get loads of viruses are obviously limited in brain capacity in some way or other. i bet if you gave them a mac they'd find a way to cripple it too.

lapses

Had a mac and would never go back to it if i was paid. Got seriously ripped off gettin a decent amount of RAM in it. It kept freezing up on me - not to mention the hassle I had trying to get it onto a domain. I finally got it on, but it was iffy.

Had a hardware problem, sent it back. It was replaced with warranty, but then the new one came back without the upgraded memory I had put in the first one. Had to send it back again.

Im not even going to talk about the problems I had trying to get my 8dbi omni directional onto it.

So to avoid all the hassle I went on Komplett, bought new parts for new computer, made an awful beast of a machine and put freebsd onto it and life has never being easier. Id never look back.

Adyx

In over 10 years of using Windows ( from Windows 95 to Windows 7), I have never ever had a virus. Why? Because I'm not an idiot. OSX is not more secure than Windows. It's just less of a target. By no means am I a Windows fanboy - it has more than it's fair share of faults but a PC does everything a mac can do, at least as well if not better for a hell of a lot cheaper.

I think OSX is for a certain type of person just like Linux currently is. For the vast majority of people Windows (for good or bad) is the most suitable OS.

the_syco

mehmeh12 wrote: »

I'm thinking getting a mac due to the lack of viruses. Security is **** in windows.

What a retarded answer. The first virus that came out was for a Mac. The reason no-one makes viruses for a Mac, is that there is no point. You make a virus to cripple a lot of systems. Lots of people, corporations etc use Windows, so it makes sense to attack Windows.

In the past 4 years, I've gotten one nasty virus. I forget the AV program I was using, but it was sh|te in hindsight.

If all those dumb people who get viruses were given Macs, Macs would become a target. Truth be told, many of the people who use a computer haven't a notion how to use it, aside from there special program (usually some custom built software specially for that company), so it's no wonder they open up all the spam they get.

=-=

As for reasons why to get a Mac, Macs are often used for the production of graphic and sound. I know of a few companies who invest in just Macs, as it's easier to have one build, who you know won't change, and thus is easy to test it.