Hardware/OS Geek Thread

[Nathan]

I've always gotten a kick out of the attitude that Macs with their supposedly superior architecture are somehow impervious to viruses. The fact is that hackers don't bother writing viruses for Macs because they have such a puny market share.  They can't get the bang for the buck with debilitating viruses when Macs command around 5% market share while PC's are over 90%.

OS X is a unix based system.  Go look up the market share of servers between Windows and unix/linux.  Obscurity helps, but it is not the sole reason.  The fact is that there is not 1 single self propagating virus in the wild for OS X.  There are 2 trojans in the wild (meaning you try to open a file and it asks for your password, and if you give it, you are infected).  There is really no way for an OS to protect against trojans because it is all up to the user being smart enough to question why opening that 'nude art' picture is asking for an admin password .

No OS can protect against ID ten T and PEBCAC errors.

[DCFan]

OS X is a unix based system.  Go look up the market share of servers between Windows and unix/linux.  Obscurity helps, but it is not the sole reason.  The fact is that there is not 1 single self propagating virus in the wild for OS X.

Nathan, it's market share and nothing else. Look around, it's a Windows dominated universe with Mac's occupying the same niche market they've always had. And it's the same whether it's in the corporate world or home use, Windows is everywhere.

Personally I'd like to strangle the sumbeech who came up with the VI editor. 

[Nat of the Living Dead]

Nathan, it's market share and nothing else. Look around, it's a Windows dominated universe with Mac's occupying the same niche market they've always had. And it's the same whether it's in the corporate world or home use, Windows is everywhere.

Don't blame everyone else for you being too cheap to buy a MAC.

[DCFan]

Don't blame everyone else for you being too cheap to buy a MAC.

Oh, it's better than that - I'm running 2 HP refurbs I bought from Costco.com. 

[Nathan]

Personally I'd like to strangle the sumbeech who came up with the VI editor. 

vim > emacs

You can believe it is market share alone, I won't.  There's really no way to prove it.  There were viruses for Mac OS 9 weren't there?  And it had a smaller market share than OS X does today, right?  So why would there not be at least a few viruses for OS X?

[DCFan]

vi > emacs

What, something with "mac" in its name is inferior to another? 

(and in the interest of disclosure, I'm a Microsoft shareholder. )

[sportsfan882]

Windows dominate everything.

How many businesses/corporations use Macs?

[Nathan]

Well, an eMac > emacs.   It's gotta have a capital "M" and lower case "ac" to be superior.

[DCFan]

Well, an eMac > emacs.   It's gotta have a capital "M" and lower case "ac" to be superior.

 

[Nathan]

This whole discussion may be mute in a few years anyway when Google Chrome OS assimilates the entire world.

[sportsfan882]

How's their Chrome browser doing? JMad used to pump up that crap all the time on here.

[Nathan]

How's their Chrome browser doing? JMad used to pump up that crap all the time on here.

Resistance is Futile

[sportsfan882]

I still can't believe the amount of people who still use IE.

Per wikipedia as of July '09:
IE (67.68%)
Firefox (22.47%)
Safari (4.07%)
Chrome (2.59%)
Opera (1.97%)
Other (1.22%)

[Nathan]

I still can't believe the amount of people who still use IE.

Per wikipedia as of July '09:
IE (67.68%)
Firefox (22.47%)
Safari (4.07%)
Chrome (2.59%)
Opera (1.97%)
Other (1.22%)

But more people use it, so it must be the best, right?

[sportsfan882]

no, people just don't know any better.

[saltydad]

What pisses me off is that I am forced to use IE for some functions (like Microsoft Update) and Verizon Central for Fios, when I use Firefox for everything else.

[Nathan]

What pisses me off is that I am forced to use IE for some functions (like Microsoft Update) and Verizon Central for Fios, when I use Firefox for everything else.

Have you tried a user agent switcher to access those sites, it works a lot of the time.

[The Chief]

I've heard the exact opposite about PCs. They are nothing but worm farms and private boxes for hackers to jack off in. I never had a virus on my MAC nor have I ever been hacked. That "couple grand" gives you unparalleled piece of mind so you can concentrate on more important things.

You heard from people who don't know security then, or are at least very biased about it.  Unlike me, who you can totally trust    Ask the hackers themselves.  As for "peace of mind" - I have UAC (laugh all you want, those who joke don't really understand security) and a great free AV program that is configured so I don't even notice that it's there.  But even running with UAC off and no AV at all, as I have done for long stretches in the past, I have never once caught anything.  Hell, a good hosts file and a dose of common sense will protect you as well as any AV product.  For some people, sandboxing themselves with a Mac may be the best option.  Expensive, but if that's the only way to keep them safe from themselves, it's their prerogative.  I can't speak for anyone else, but I don't spend my money on such things.  Same reason I don't usually buy extended warranties

Kidding aside, I was an avid PC user once. After my second PC went to the craps over viruses and couldn't support the amount of graphic work and media work I was doing at the time

No offense, but these are both your fault, not the computer.  I have yet to see a properly patched and updated PC ever catch a virus on its own just sitting there with no user interaction whatsoever.  To be honest, it's partially Microsoft's fault for making the default accounts administrators.  Or I suppose you could blame the OEMs.  Regardless, it's just not a great idea.

As for "supporting the amount of graphic work and media work" you were doing, that's not a PC vs Mac thing.  Macs get old too, and if your PC wasn't old, then it's usually pretty simple to upgrade either the hardware or software (or both) to support your needs.  And still cheaper than buying a new Mac.  Hell you could buy a whole new PC that fits your needs for a lot less.  But again, if you just can't help investigating every link and popup that comes across your screen by all means "secure" yourself with a Mac

At least in a few years you'll have your kid as an excuse

The debate is silly because it all boils down to personal preference and what you are doing with your computer.

Fixed.  Unless it's gaming

[The Chief]

What pisses me off is that I am forced to use IE for some functions (like Microsoft Update) and Verizon Central for Fios, when I use Firefox for everything else.

What's this Verizon Central you speak of?  Is it an account management portal of some sort?  My parents have Fios and I've never heard of them having any problems using Firefox.  Nathan's suggestion is a good possibility if so.

[DCFan]

feel free to double your computing expenses by purchasing a Mac and fooling yourself that you're "secure."

Price is the only thing I care about. I'm the typical PC user, I do some web surfing and word processing. Why should I pay double to do that with a Mac?

If there was some competition in the Mac world like there is with PC's we'd see prices come down but there isn't so Apple is nothing more than a niche product with an albeit devoted but small following nonetheless.

[GburgNatsFan]

We've found with recent releases of Firefox that there are many interactive web pages (banking, etc.) that do not work anymore. It's hard to tell if it's the recent version of Firefox, or changes to the web site's code, but they all work in IE7.

What's this Verizon Central you speak of?  Is it an account management portal of some sort?  My parents have Fios and I've never heard of them having any problems using Firefox.  Nathan's suggestion is a good possibility if so.

[The Chief]

We've found with recent releases of Firefox that there are many interactive web pages (banking, etc.) that do not work anymore. It's hard to tell if it's the recent version of Firefox, or changes to the web site's code, but they all work in IE7.

Strange.  Firefox is bigger than ever, so it's extremely unusual to find any respectable sites/portals blatantly not supporting it.  There really isn't any technical reason not to do so.

Try this - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/59

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

I just bought my first Mac in 15 years on Sunday (Macbook Pro), and I have to say that it's pretty damned nice.  Everything just...works.  I've got a big pile of crap Dell laptops sitting in the corner, all of which were buggy as hell while they worked and then imploded for some reason or another after a couple of years. 

[The Chief]

Everything just...works.  I've got a big pile of crap Dell laptops sitting in the corner, all of which were buggy as hell while they worked and then imploded for some reason or another after a couple of years. 

Sigh

A brand new computer works when an old one doesn't?  What are the chances?  Next you'll be telling me your brand new car runs better than the one you got 10 years ago.

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=macs_cant

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

Ha