Way OT: Antivirus Software

Get AVG .. It's free from http://free.grisoft.... .. it's every bit as good as the next one.

Mac users .. No worries about viruses, because there are none.

freebsd 7.0 + F-Prot Antivirus

I use avast it hasnt given me any problems in 5 years

most firewalls will work with it I use Comodo with it and have had no problems with any virus or trojan

avast

http://www.avast.com...

Comodo Firewall

http://www.personalf...

There have got to be viruses that attack Macs ... are you serious?

make viruses want notority, so they write to the OS that has the largest market share and will infect the most computers. Since the I-pod, the Macs and its OS have picked up some market share and are about 7% of pc sales now. Also I-Phone sales are growing with a 10 million target by the yearend that will surely be exceeded. So I think that soon the Mac will be in need of virus software.

Then again, what do I know.

Yes, I'm serious, Rick.

Chris' response about marketshare is valid, but also nothing that virus makers are concerned about. What could be more fun, than to make a virus for a system that doesn't use virus protection (at least not widespread). It's simply to irresistible to resist. There have been a few "proof of concept" viruses, but nothing that would be able to wreak havoc on a Mac system. These proof of concept codes have been squashed by Apple fairly quickly, which is neat.

Oh, and Mac's don't crash .. or ask for weird drivers .. or demand you actually know something about computers to get it to work .. or makes you google for answers to how a certain program works .. mmmmmmmmmh

what I use. It's an integral part of my ISP's package. So, it's free to me. It works well. I also endorse AVG's free product. I run that on my dad's computer as he has no included software with his ISP.

You're feeding my CAD Lars ... but this sounds more and more interesting. My first real computer was a Mac. I loved everything about it. I had it in the house less than two days when the next model came out. Pissed me off. Mine was the Mac LC II. I bought it after it had been out about 2 or 3 months. When I saw the LC III on the shelves I asked the salesman if there was any way I could trade up and he treated me like crap. So I got pissed and bought a PC. Been with them ever since. I had a short stint playing with a Mac Laptop at work using OS 8 ... I loved it again and swore some day I'd get another Mac. Now I've never touched OS X. But the allure is there none the less. I keep looking. I keep cruising by Apple's web site. I go to many etailers sites weekely and the first thing I do is check the price of the Macs ... you know where this is likely to go ... this is exactly the same MO as how I buy a pipe. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. CAD ... Computer Acquisition Disorder

I bought a Mac one year ago.

And, taking the risk of sounding like a Mac-fanboy, I have not regretted it one second. For once I got myself a box that ran without me paying any effort to get this or that to run or requiring me to install something.

No, plug it in and it works. What a revelation, what a joy.

Some would claim similar things about linux, but they err. Been there, done that, a Mac comes out victoriously.

I wonder why no one else makes something that's as easy and solid as this.

But then again, I do risk sounding like a Mac fanboy, which I am not.

HTH ;-)

Rick .. Get a Mac and enjoy life. Corneel is a happy camper .. I choose to think that's partly because of his wise computer purchase. I used to be a wreck, but with a Mac, I'm flowers and sunshine.

I'd like to think so.

There's only one caveat, and that's the price. Macs are a tad more expensive than other counting-boxes, so I do hope they'll last significantly longer as well.

Time will tell.

Or you will, or someone with more experience.

Mac OSX is based on Freebsd ;)

hehe, well, I am more of a computer geek, I really do not mind fiddling about with my operating system. A totally free OS using totaly free software is a bit hard to beat, instead of $ one has to put in some time though.

Enough ranting/advocating, what I meant to say is:

Almost everyone I know that uses a Mac with the latest MacOSX version loves it.

They _do_ tend to last longer than their PC counterparts .. Partly due to the fact that Mac OS X keeps running better and better on older hardware as Apple releases new versions of the OS. As an example - When Max OS X Panther came out, older G3 (older CPU) users could actually run Mac OS X on their old machines without hiccups, as opposed to the previous version called Jaguar. This seeming paradox in the world of operating systems is still true today. After Panther came Tiger and yet again people experienced speedups all across the board. And Mac OS X has never been slow in my book.

Apple has moved to the Intel platform now and will soon no longer be supporting the old G3, G4 and G5 CPU's, but the mission to make the most efficient OS possible, is still the focus of development in Cupertino, CA. The next version of Mac OS X (Snow Leopard) will be all about performance optimization, rather than cramming in more features. I guess the fact that Mac OS X is light years ahead of anything coming from the bowels of Microsoft, takes a load off and they can concentrate on making the coolest OS in the universe just that much cooler ... and get more market share in the process.

Mmmmmh .. Tastes like chocolate.

I am a MacBook user and run no virus protection software.

On the PC, I run McAfee, along with SpyBot and Ad-Aware. The PC is soon to replaced with a Mac desktop, though.

CAD is raging right now ... must ... ignore ... this ... thread ... Aaaaaaaaaargh!

There's no point in resisting, Rick. Yes, you will shell out more cash for a Mac initially, but the reward comes quickly. Beef up your new Mac with as much RAM as it will take, and you're good to go for a long time.

Will there ever be a virus for the Mac? - I'm sure there will be, but given the state of the Mac OS X platform we see today, I don't see it having much of an impact or even becoming a problem.

Part of the core system Apple uses is the BSD kernel (Apple calls it Darwin). This kernel is actively being developed by Apple and indeed the rest of the world, as it's an open source kernel. The open source community focuses on security and Apple is quick to adopt the changes the community makes. This is not to say, the open source community is without error, but it greatly limits the risk. Large parts of the remaining OS is still closed source, but compared to Microsoft which is completely proprietary closed source, the openness of Apple is a big advantage.

One _could_ opt for Linux over Windows, but despite all the best efforts, even the (in)famous Ubuntu is still a bit too technical in some areas to sit well with the average Joe. That's where Apple comes out as the big winner with new users. It just works, and you don't have to worry about how things need to be configured, or even dig around deep inside the OS to make it do what you want. You _can_ do that with Mac OS X if you wish, but it's not necessary.

Apple and Mac OS X gets a lot of flak for its price and limited amount of software. The price is partially valid, but given the Mac OS X history, you get more bang for your buck as the OS will keep your computer running smooth for longer. As far as software goes, it's just plain ignorance. All the software you could ever wish for is right there for your Mac. It's called something else than what you expect from Windows and it looks a million times better (Mac users know what I'm talking about).

So .. rambling over. Get a Mac and stop fidgeting. :)

I used to work at a large company that had two different camps: the Mac users (mostly graphics apps) and the rest of the schumcks on PCs. There was this constant banter between the two that was absolutely hilarious to hear. Regarding the availability of apps, yes, I know its all bull that there aren't many fine titles available right now. For me, the driving force behind the Mac purchase (besides the fact that I want to play) is that I want to work with some digital photography in Photoshop (to begin with) and then Illustrator. In particular I want to mess around with HDR photography and there is a plug in for Photoshop. I currently don't own Photoshop so I'm going to have to shell out the bucks for the software anyway. I'll still leave my PC laptop for all my engineering software needs but would use the Mac for all my graphics stuff. Diffeernt tool, different job, no big deal.

Will I pull this trigger this year? I hope so but there is only so much cash to spread around. I guess if I didn't buy that Eltang I'd be well on my way to owning the Mac but, well, oh well.

Whats gotten me so fired up about Macs again is my new iPhone. This has to be the single coolest gadget I've ever purchased. I absolutely love everything about it. I figure if Apple can make something as simple as a phone that cool they must have made major strides in the Mac platform.

Amen.

AAPL in this thread too?

I work for Apple. In fact, I am typing this from my desk AT apple. That said, I owned Apple's before I cam to work here. In fact, I figured if the machine was that cool, maybe it would be a cool place to work. Well, it has been years, and I still love it. /funny thing is, I just came here to make some cash between church assignments and ended up staying.

That said, I do not use any AV protection on my desktops or portables (on My MBP right now). My server uses am app called ClamAV. It is readily avalable and free for OS X. Norton (Symantec) also makes an AV suite as does a company called Intego (they only deal with Macs and tend to write software with that attitude). So, you can get AV coverage.

Honestly, the only reason to get it, though--and the reason why it is on OS X Server--is that you may find yourself sharing files with PC users and you want to be able to protect them. A mac can be something of a Typhoid Mary (you can carry a file infected by a virus, it will have no ill-affect on you, but you can give it to someone else.

As for actual viruses; yes, there have been a few. Eight or ten that I recall in ym time using these machines (oover 10 years).

I worked Tech Support for Apple for almost three years of my tenure and in all that time took one customer phone call that I suspected was virus related. Was never able to prove it was a virus though and was able to fix the issue with an Archive and Install (for you PC folks, and archive re-installs the system, but does not affect users or data). So, if there was a virus, it was in the system folder and we removed it.

That is my $0.02

I'm a believer. This must happen ... hopefully this year. I'm saving my Christmas money ... a little extra here, a little extra there and before you know it I may just have a Mac again!

four dunhills...that would just about make you to a new macbook...and if you could forgo five...then you could have a macbook pro...hahaha...

but if you are planning on a new computer...then it is definitely the way to go.

Cheers,

Josh