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Viruses will soon catch up with Apple systems

Published: Friday, February 26, 2010

Updated: Friday, February 26, 2010 07:02

When I began working for the Collegian a year ago, I discovered the computers in the newsroom are Macs. I wasn't familiar with Macs, but I've worked on computers all my life, so I began playing with one, undaunted.

It didn't take long for me to start cursing at it. Everything is backwards. The clock is at the top of the screen, the close screen button is on the left instead of the right, and when I accidentally minimized a screen, I couldn't find it.

I soon bought myself a netbook with Windows so I could use it in the newsroom. Some of the editors like to give me a hard time about being a PC girl, but I won't be swayed.

Mac vs. PC is like the Ford vs. Chevy rivalry. Both sides have diehard fans who claim theirs is the best, no matter what, as well as swing voters who make their choices based on which one has the better TV commercial.

In spite of all the mythology surrounding them, Macs are no better than PCs. In fact, I daresay PCs are a better because they have anti-virus protection. Wait, don't stop reading and call me an idiot, yet. Finish reading, then feel free to call me an idiot.

Apple's Web site gives reasons why they're better, but you could easily replace the word "Mac" with "PC" and the statements would still be true. For example, it says: "A Mac makes wireless easy. Networks automatically appear, and you can get on the Internet with a few clicks." So does my netbook.

Apple: "A Mac regularly checks for updates to Mac OS X and any included Apple software and automatically downloads them." So do PCs.

Apple: "Unlike other computers that require you to spend hours configuring devices, a Mac connects to your digital camera, wireless device or external drive and just works. Really."

I have never spent more than a few minutes configuring anything on a PC, let alone hours. I'd really like to know what "other computers" they're referring to, but they don't say. How mysterious.

My absolute favorite claims are about their super, uncrashable operating system and their freedom from viruses.

Go to Google.com and type in "Mac OS X crashes." You will find literally thousands of Web sites with tips and suggestions on what to do when you get the dreaded "black screen of death" on your Mac. You'll also find stalwart remarks that the most common reason OS X crashes is because of bad scripts and compatibility problems with third-party software. What a coincidence — that's the most common cause of crashes on a PC, too.

As far as viruses go, on Apple's Web site, it states Macs don't get "PC viruses." Well, duh. It makes total sense that a Mac would be immune to a virus designed for a PC, seeing as how they have different operating systems. This is nothing more than clever wording that bears the odious stench of lawyers.

Macs are not immune to the threat of viruses, they just haven't been seriously targeted, yet. Macs are becoming more popular, though, and the lure of thousands of Macs out there with no anti-virus protection is too tempting a lure to pass up.

Last year, several Mac trojans affected thousands of Mac users. It will only get worse. Eventually, Apple will have to put out their own anti-virus software. Then you, too, will have to pay for a program that affects your computer's performance as it tries to protect you from all those virus-addled porn sites you insist on browsing.

Nine times out of 10, if a PC user gets a virus, it's because of carelessness, because anti-virus software hasn't been updated or both. The cautious PC user who makes sure he is protected rarely has anything to worry about, because the anti-virus software companies stay on top of all the latest threats quite well.

Having grown up on PCs and being well acquainted with the dos and don'ts that allow me to enjoy them to their fullest potential, I am perfectly safe and comfortable sticking with them. I like my taskbar and clock where they are, I like hitting CTRL instead of that stupid Apple button to copy and paste and I like having constantly updated virus protection. You can have your goofy, backwards unprotected Macs. I'm a PC girl.

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8 comments

Anonymous
Mon Mar 1 2010 18:49
This is an opinion piece as said at the top of the page right above the headline. As such, the author is entitled to any bias she wishes to stake her rep on. But don't you realize, she will wake up all the mac fanboys from their foray into the reality-distortion field and bing them to the exciting world of..., oh wait, never mind she just rehashed a tired argument, nothing original. Typical journalist.

They probably use macs because it is a newspaper, they do some graphics and some layout which is better suited to Macs. Macs are a bit easier to use an important difference for beginners, computer idiots and even general idiots which would be about all journalists. Even grown-up journalists are not that bright otherwise they would get a real job that pays better.

Other notes: The mac OS is not Open source though the mach kernel is. Your tuition/fees pay for those macs too. Most mac viruses have to ask for your password to install. Infected Mac software comes from about one source, Bit torrents. So you have to go out of our way to get a mac sick. Come to think of it we should ask the collegian how many viruses they have had on their macs since their employees would be the most likely to do something dumb and get a virus, or maybe that is why they use macs.

I hate Mac fanboys too. The Mac OS is nice but has been bloating bad. Every rev since 10.4 has required twice the resources of the previous rev for not that many real features.

But after using two-finger scroll on a mac laptop, I'm still waiting for PC to catch up to 4 years ago. If macs and PCs are so the same then this bit of hardware( like the scroll ball in the might mouse) Is why I use one.

Please let me know if I sound biased.

Anonymous
Mon Mar 1 2010 11:44
When I began working for a local company, I discovered the computers in the offices were PCs. I wasn’t familiar with PCs, but I’ve worked on computers all my life, so I began playing with one, undaunted.

It didn’t take long for me to start cursing at it. Everything is backwards. The clock is at the bottom of the screen, the close screen button is on the right instead of the left WHERE IT BELONGS. So now I bring my PC laptop to work so I can feel comfortable.

My God, what shallow thinking and writing. I hope the article by Ingram was written in jest.

Anonymous
Sun Feb 28 2010 19:34
Arnab Gupta.

The Unix Archtype the MAC OS is based off is called BSD. There are BSD OSes for the PC, which grants a HIGHER security than a MAC. BSD OSes have exist for a very long time, and have been in competition with LINUX OSes for popularity.

With that said, the MAC OS is actually based OFF the NetBSD OS, and because of the OpenSource GNU, you may get access to netbsd source code, and thus gain access to MAC OS's crude source code, something Microsoft has never dared to release. With that in mind, any hacker/bug finder/cracker can potentially develop virus that could potentially COMPLETELY modify the MAC OS permanently and require a full format after each infection due to the knowledge a hacker/cracker could obtain. The reason why windows viruses are not that destructive is because of the closed source of the OS, no one has fully reverse engineered Windows XP, muchless any later versions, and thus hackers can't really create viruses that would successfully modify the core of the OS because they do not know what is in the core, they can only guess from memory access.

In term of vulnerability to viruses, I would certainly say MAC OS is currently in the top. Yes, windows viruses are plenty, but let's be honest, the severeness of PC viruses is going down and down, PC users getting more aware. If anything, the MAC trend is only bringing up a new generation of "reckless" users and once hackers decide to bother with MACs, prepare for mayhem.

Anonymous
Sat Feb 27 2010 08:38
comming from a person that works with people that use different types of computers and walking them thru their system i find the mac users buy it because its the cool thing to do. I ask them to do a simple task and they are like how do i do that. i then say im sorry i dont know the windows os or mac os that well. you will have to call apple for that kind of help. i am here to trubbleshoot my device not the computer.

if you buy a system dont expect someone at a cable modem or router support to take the time to show you mac or windows 101. that isn't what im here for. but any way i send them to apple for one reason to show them how apple care doesnt really care that much if you dont get apple care you dont really get any support and the support you get isnt very good anyway.

they always endup calling back and i asked them why couldnt apple fix your connection. they say well they didnt know ether. so i have them create a new connection in the network connection area which is beyond my scope and it just works if apple just works why do i have to make a new internet connection if the dhcp server doesnt work on the mac.

my real issue is dont say "i got a MAC" like your better than me im here im a person and i dont enjoy using mac or windows comptuers. both systems have the good and the bad. i can tell you macs are easy to use but you have to say to your self the whole time this isnt windows this isnt windows. and forget all the stuff you learned in windows and you will pick up the mac really fast. i grew up on a windows system and i know there are issues with m$ windows i just got tired of all the upgrades and complants on which system is better. so i decided i will get the best of both worlds and not have to pay for upgrades and have some viruses but not as many as windows or mac. yes linux isnt as well supported but the days are growning quick and maybe one day there will be articles like above about linux systems.

please understand me here. no more this is os better that is os better that os sucks or this os sucks its about what the person likes and wants to use.

Anonymous
Sat Feb 27 2010 00:48
The Mac's 'security by obscurity' sounds plausible enough until you consider that Apple are precisely the autocratic oppressor hackers love to target, MacOS has been a target for longer than Windows and it now has a 10% US market share. Surely we should have at least a thousand viruses compared to 14,000+ on the PC? a hundred? ten? one? No - the malware has only been trojans - user accepted apps with bad intent. So 'security by obscurity' is a nonsensical argument created by people who can't admit they've made a mistake.

You do, however, outline one of the key reasons why Apple have such an uphill battle to regain their territory. When incumbent users have been brainwashed to the extreme that they can't differentiate between a real virus problem on the PC and a hypothetical one on the Mac and when they try to use a Mac, they try to use it like a PC you know even the best designed systems are in for a hard race.

You may have worked with computers your whole life (let's be honest that's not long is it?) but had you managed to get past the clock & dock 'fiasco' you'd have seen the Mac's integration extends way beyond Windows' loading & saving files & cut/copy/paste. Media libraries provide your managed information from within any application & when you view an image or series of images from an email they can be drawn into the library with one click as can most information, it can also be shared with the world just as easily.

Sorry you didn't have a great experience but let's face facts - either you'd made your mind up or more probably had it made up for you before you even laid hands on the Mac if, in fact, you ever did as there's no real evidence in your commentary to show that you have.

McD

Anonymous
Fri Feb 26 2010 18:17
"I'm a PC" but am currently looking to switch over to Mac, which is what lead me to this article. I am in the Flexographic printing industry and for the last 20 years, if you want to do anything with graphics you need a Mac. This is still true today and has expanded to video editing. There was a time that I was apple through and through, but costs always kept me from getting an apple. Over the years I've had 6 different windows based machines and have been happy with them, more over with HP products. I was pleasently surprised by the lowered price of Macs as I went to the store for a firewire cord to hook my video camera to my PC laptop.

For me, it's always boiled down to this. If you want to crunch numbers, get a IBM compatable (PC for the whipersnappers) and if you want to do graphics, get a Mac, its that easy and I believe it still is.

Thanks for the article, but as the previous person said "Have you ever stopped to consider that there might be an actual reason for the computers in the newsroom to be Macs instead of PCs, even though Macs are far costlier?"

Random Computer Science Major
Fri Feb 26 2010 15:18
In all honesty, this whole "Mac vs PC" garbage was just a marketing campaign started by Apple (Which is silly, because by definition alone a Mac is indeed a (P)ersonal (C)omputer). Who cares what operating you use? They both have their advantages and disadvantages. To think that a piece of technology defines who you are and is your lifestyle is silly. I think this is the real issue there. Many Mac fans talk about how great their PC is, where as most windows users don't give two craps. Many applications are cross-OS, and each operating system has it's pros and cons.

Using windows gives the user a more custom experience as far as what technology you buy and how much you are willing to spend. You have many more options for the price of what your PC could be. Windows 7 is the most secure OS by Microsoft to date along with the most visually appealing. You can easily build a fast machine for fractions of the price of a Mac and are able to upgrade throughout the lifespan of the device. Windows is the most used operating system throughout the world so there really is no worry about compatibility issues when it comes to software.

Macs are great because everything is programmed for a specific set of technology. All Apple parts, no third party worries. No need to worry about different hardware driver issues because it was all coded to work with Apple specific parts. This is often why people claim "it just works". Macs are indeed fairly simple to use as far as having any knowledge of troubleshooting. Visually appealing OS's are very important to Apple, so obviously they look nice. That's the draw to Macs.

At the end of the day, we're all using computers. Whether it be on a windows machine or apple machine, who really cares?

Arnab Gupta
Fri Feb 26 2010 14:10
Have you heard about 'being objective' when you write?

You're right, one reason Macs are virus free is the fact that there are smaller number of viruses written for the Mac. There are, however, other reasons too. Such as, the Mac is based on a Unix architecture, which is far more secure than Windows. Remember the UAC on Vista that kept asking for permission for everything? - That was an attempt at bringing the same level of security on the Windows platform. It failed on Vista - I hope they have a better setup on 7.

And then there are other things on a Mac that make it a great platform - but to appreciate those, you need to give yourself time to explore and get used to a different interface. Instead, if you choose to limit yourself by trivial matters of the position of the clock and the close button, and which key you need to press to copy and paste, then I'm afraid you'll forever languish in the world of "dos and don'ts" instead of actually using a computer to its "fullest potential".

Have you ever stopped to consider that there might be an actual reason for the computers in the newsroom to be Macs instead of PCs, even though Macs are far costlier?







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