Mac VS PC

[Guest bennish]

Basically it doesn't matter how secure it is. It's the popularity. Windows is now more secure than it used to be, but it's still virused and hacked (albeit less). It's because despite the increased security, hackers keep learning and trying harder. Once hackers actually try with the Mac, people will find it's just as common. There would be many many security holes in all the Mac/unix OS-es that we simply don't know about yet because noone's exploited them.

It's the same reason Palm viruses have been around since Palm's very popular days, as well as Symbian... but (unfortunately) as WM is still a bit niche, it hasn't gained the attention.

It's a basic law of the universe. There's no such thing as an impenetrable defence. No matter how many weapons a country has, the other countries will overcome them. No matter how secure a computer is, hackers with the desire WILL always overcome it.

Personally it doesn't bother me. I can't remember the last time i had a virus. It was before XP, and was gone within 10 minutes.

Now if Macs could claim to eliminate spam... THAT would damn well impress me :)

Edited November 28, 2006 by bennish

[Guest mupwangle]

>>And yet there's a news story today about another vulnerability in MAC's current OS (which hasnt been patched!)

Which I think brings the total up to about 10! If it's the one I think it is then it still uses social engineering. It is a faked disk image that you need to download and run rather than being spread itself. That's the point. I don't think there is a single virus for mac/linux/unix that can spread without human intervention.

I agree that if the mac was as popular as windows then there would be more viruses but there is no way that it would ever be to the same degree.

[Guest Zim]

There was a security update released last night.. so i am pretty sure everything has been patched up..

ZIm

[Guest genaldar]

One of the knocks recent mac switchers have against windows machines is that macs come with all this cool software (idvd and the like) but the problem is that if ms included that stuff they'd get sued, again. So giving mac a point for being a small enough player that they aren't worth suing is rather unfair.

Personally I like pcs because I like to build my own. And as long as you have antivirus (say avast which is free) and anti-spyware (windows defender, also free) you're pretty safe from the bad stuff. Hell I even use ie and I've never been infected with anything dangerous.

Of course I hate apple and all the mac zealots, so I'm biased. I remember years ago having idiot mac fanboys say that command lines were worthless and gui was the only way to go. But as soon as apple decided to base x on nix (to save coding imo) suddenly all I hear is how powerful and robust command line can be. Let's not forget all the old jokes about how x86 is inferior to power pc. A line held by fanboys until the announcement of intel chips in macs. And of course the classic fanboy yell of "windows is just a cheap knock off of the apple gui", which fails to take into account that apple blatantly copied the gui and mouse from Xerox. And of course there is the classic argument that photoshop is better on a mac. I don't know how true thats ever been. If you look at photoshop sales the pc version has outsold the mac for years. Now I know the install base is bigger but I doubt suzy housewife is plunking down $500 for photo software for her $500 pc. Plus the look of apple products (and most pre-built pcs too) just doesn't appeal to me. But hey, I prefer function over form so what do I know?

Edited November 30, 2006 by genaldar

[Guest The Doctor]

Personally I like pcs because I like to build my own. And as long as you have antivirus (say avast which is free) and anti-spyware (windows defender, also free) you're pretty safe from the bad stuff. Hell I even use ie and I've never been infected with anything dangerous.

I intend to build my own mac :) I have a cracked version of Mac OS X Tiger which will run on nearly any Intel processor that supports SSE2/SSE3 :D All that remains is for me to build my own intel system that supports SSE3 as all the PC's in my house are AMD :P

Phil

[Guest mupwangle]

Oh, the irony. ;-)

I've had a mac for a couple of months now and I managed to crash it properly for the very first time.

I was installing a mouse driver in Windows XP under Parallels. ;-D

[Guest The Doctor]

Oh, the irony. ;-)

I've had a mac for a couple of months now and I managed to crash it properly for the very first time.

I was installing a mouse driver in Windows XP under Parallels. ;-D

Somehow, "I told you so" doesn't quite say it :)

Phil

[Guest bennish]

One of the knocks recent mac switchers have against windows machines is that macs come with all this cool software (idvd and the like) but the problem is that if ms included that stuff they'd get sued, again. So giving mac a point for being a small enough player that they aren't worth suing is rather unfair.

i completely agree genaldar. same deal with pdf. one of the things i hear soooo much from maccers is 'pdf is built in! it's all built on pdf!'

Microsoft tried to build pdf into vista. what happened? they got SUED.

They tried to make vista more secure, which meant that antivirus people had a harder time getting in. It almost got them SUED.

I wish everyone would stop blaming Microsoft for Adobe and McAfee's mistakes. They're the truly fudged-up companies.

Another thing. Anyone notice how little time PC users spend bagging Macs? It's because they're actually doing something. I'm sorta half-joking here, but with *some* extremely zealous Mac users (not saying anyone here, although perhaps the aggressive and derogatory signature is a bit much), it seems they've got a lot of spare time to make anti-pc videos etc. What, is there nothing else to do on the mac? As for me, I'm off to play a game... :)

Edited December 1, 2006 by bennish

[Guest The Doctor]

I agree that the reason why windows is worse than os x is not entirely microsofts fault. i'm not one of those religious mac users that absolutely hates microsoft with a passion I just believe that they couldve done a much better job with windows, especially without being sued left right and centre. hence why I think os x is a better os. might not be for the right reasons that is IS better but it just works a lot better then windows.

phil

[Guest Monolithix (MVP)]

What, is there nothing else to do on the mac? As for me, I'm off to play a game...

Phew, i'm glad someone mentioned it! I intend on picking up a Macbook Pro in the new year, one of the major killers for MacOS though is that its useless for gamers (although i understand its good for game development...). Soon as i do get one i'll be bootcamping Vista onto it and loading up a game of HL2 :)

[Guest The Doctor]

Phew, i'm glad someone mentioned it! I intend on picking up a Macbook Pro in the new year, one of the major killers for MacOS though is that its useless for gamers (although i understand its good for game development...). Soon as i do get one i'll be bootcamping Vista onto it and loading up a game of HL2 :)

True there aren't many games for mac, but thats not really a concern for me as i have an xbox :D

Phil

[Guest Perfectionist]

As soon as Apple make an iMac with a kick ass graphics card ..... I'm buying !!

Naturally, I'd reformat the HD and install WIndows ...... :)

[Guest The Doctor]

As soon as Apple make an iMac with a kick ass graphics card ..... I'm buying !!

Naturally, I'd reformat the HD and install WIndows ...... :)

They already do a dual 3.0Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processors with 16gb of ram and 512mb of Gforce graphics ram in the 'Mac Pro' range. Also you can spec up to 3TB (yes, thats 3072GB) of HDD space. (couple that with not one, but TWO 30" HD displays and you'll have the ultimate machine)

Max i think you'll get on an iMac is something like 3GB RAM, 256mb graphics RAM, 2.33GHz Core 2 Duo and 500GB. Thats on either the 20" or 24" models.

Phil

[Guest siu99spj]

Nowadays I think the Mac vs PC argument is a bit mute. Essentially they're very similar beasts, with Macs just using an Intel chipset, with Intels updated form of the BIOS and a quirky mobo layout.

What really makes the difference is the OS. Windows has it's quirks, as does OS-X, linux, BeOS and every other OS out there. Unfortunately, because the user base for Windows is so much greater, it does get most of the attention. If MacOS was out there, it might have suffered similar ills. The fortunate thing is the developers have seen where Windows has suffered and patched the Mac (If needed) before they could become a problem on it.

Personally, I like the design of a Mac, it's a sexy beast, even if it doesn't have two 30" HD displays(:)), but I'm a PC/Windows abuser. Have been for way too many years and don't feel I need to change. I can get Windows to do what I want, when I want and have the tools to do it. A Mac would involve several years learning all that over again, something I don't have the time or patience for (Yet).

My favourite Mac 'advert' though is this, a parody admittedly, but shows Macs aren't the final solution just yet.

[Guest Perfectionist]

Dude, a Mac Pro is not an iMac !!

I want a computer which is as small and quiet and sexy lookin as possible !!

[Guest The Doctor]

Max i think you'll get on an iMac is something like 3GB RAM, 256mb graphics RAM, 2.33GHz Core 2 Duo and 500GB. Thats on either the 20" or 24" models.

I did say the top bit was about a Mac Pro :)

Then i wrote the above underneath regarding to iMac's

Phil

[Guest markdotpeters5]

I had a 20" iMAC for a while, after falling in love with OSX. then I missed fiddling around with Vista.

I also couldn't find good enough equivalents for some Windows apps I ran (mainly newsleecher) and I can't be bothered with all that virtualisation nonsense :)

Having just moved house and having a slightly smaller office (but bigger everything else!) I've been toying with replacing my desktop and laptop (both PCs) with a MacBook.... even if they are too expensive!

[Guest kelv23]

Recently bought a Mac and I have a PC as well. For me its fairly simple

Business and gaming is Windows, fun and creativity is Mac. For some reason just looking at a Mac gives me more ideas for music whereas Windows reminds me that PC games are cool and my accounts need updating.

Windows will be the primary target for virus writers because its the OS of choice for business up to now. More machines to infect easily .

My two penneths worth is that your average bod doesnt buy a Mac and sticks with a PC because theyve heard that lots of software isnt available for it thats on Windows (99% of people wouldnt be interested in this software anyway as its usuall for business users not home users). I like my Mac more but that doesnt mean I hate my PC.

Horses for courses, some people just know a bit more about what the horses can and cant do..............

[Guest zirooo]

Ehrmm.. Macs are only good in secure networks banks, airports ...etc

else macs are crap mainly because of software availability though might tend to have an appealing design

also Linux beats a Mac any day :)

just sticking with Pc :D

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

Another ill-informed poster :-D

Any of my fellow mac users that DO actually know what they're talking about bought the MacHeist Bundle?

:)

P

[Guest markdotpeters5]

I got a Macbook in the end, and haven't looked back since! My PC just sits upstairs doing nothing except the odd massive download (due only to disk space).

Might even upgrade it to a Macbook Pro at some point, oh and Unison is an OK newsgroup downloader, not as good as newsleecher, but it'll do.

Leopard FTW! :)

(checking out that bundle now)

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

I want a ColorWare MBP 15" in Yellow :)

Yeah, Leopard is great!

P

[Guest alvin002]

Get a Mac

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

Pixelmator now unlocked in the MacHeist Bundle. W00t!

P

[Guest J273]

Anyone gonna get the AIR?

I was going to get the new announced macbook after returning mine last month but after seeing the UK price :)

Maybe not.