I suddenly remember why I switched

[apsterling]

My XP partition has become a zombie harvest for spamming in my GMAIL account. My GMAIL password has been changed (under OSX) and my XP partition will not be booted into until I purge my disk of XP Virii/Spyware.

Even though Apples new iPod customer strategy sucks, Im glad to support an incredible OS that doesn't require me to depend on $50 and a recurring fee to feel secure.

End rant.

 

[contoursvt]

Stop surfing to those 'mystery' sites and make sure you at least have a hardware router between your computer and the net.

With a little cautious surfing, you dont even need Antivirus software. I have not had AV on my Centrino based laptop since late 2004 when I installed SP2. I dont have AV on my Vista box either.

Having said that, I dont download warez or surf to any site that is suspect. If I do anything that might be a little dangerous, I use an old PIII XP computer which does have antivirus because I know I'd get myself into trouble going to the mystery sites.

Oh and lastly, there are lots of free AV software that work great. Avast and AVG are the first two that come to mind.

My XP partition has become a zombie harvest for spamming in my GMAIL account. My GMAIL password has been changed (under OSX) and my XP partition will not be booted into until I purge my disk of XP Virii/Spyware.

Even though Apples new iPod customer strategy sucks, Im glad to support an incredible OS that doesn't require me to depend on $50 and a recurring fee to feel secure.

End rant.

 

[Daveoc64]

Stop surfing to those 'mystery' sites and make sure you at least have a hardware router between your computer and the net.

With a little cautious surfing, you dont even need Antivirus software. I have not had AV on my Centrino based laptop since late 2004 when I installed SP2. I dont have AV on my Vista box either.

Having said that, I dont download warez or surf to any site that is suspect. If I do anything that might be a little dangerous, I use an old PIII XP computer which does have antivirus because I know I'd get myself into trouble going to the mystery sites.

Oh and lastly, there are lots of free AV software that work great. Avast and AVG are the first two that come to mind.

Exactly.

You shouldn't be getting viruses from general Windows usage - especially as a second OS.

I use AVG on my Mac for Windows. While I've never had a virus in the past, it's good to know I have a basic level of protection.

 

[dbam987]

As long as you have a decent firewall setup and go to reputable websites then there is really no need for anti-virus apps. With OSX all I have is the firewall enabled and i'm good to go.

But... with the rise of people switching to Mac's these days one has to wonder when h@ackers will start writing more virus apps for it. Windows receives a bad rap from constant attacks only because its the dominant OS in use today. The same would be true if Apple and Microsoft's roles were reversed. Eventually the need for virus-protection on Mac will be needed. Hopefully not within my lifetime though!

 

[maxrobertson]

I don't believe any of you people who say you don't need antivirus. Believe me, it's necessary. Every computer I've used with XP at work, at home, wherever gets infected right away. How could a router solve that problem?

 

[mkrishnan]

I don't believe any of you people who say you don't need antivirus. Believe me, it's necessary. Every computer I've used with XP at work, at home, wherever gets infected right away. How could a router solve that problem?

A router by itself doesn't solve the problem. You need three things:

1) A router or firewall to cut down on intrusion type attacks.

2) You must only use browsers that do not support ActiveX / DCOM / whatever Microsoft embedded objects (e.g. Firefox), as this is a major vector that viruses use to enter Windows computers.

3) You cannot download or random crap from untrusted e-mails, sites, or services -- particularly no porn and no pirating, since this is the other major vector Windows viruses use.

If you do those three things, yes, you can probably get by just fine without a virus program on a Windows PC. I only use work Windows PCs, but I never get files flagged as having viruses on them.

Of course, giving up porn is an awful lot to ask, so many of us use Linux or OS X instead.

 

[dbam987]

Router's have built in firewall to prevent hackers from getting into your network. Anti-Virus protects against websites that have malicious code that could infect your computer. If you download a bunch of applications or Office app's that have macro's then an Anti-virus app would help you out big time.

 

[theBB]

But... with the rise of people switching to Mac's these days one has to wonder when h@ackers will start writing more virus apps for it. Windows receives a bad rap from constant attacks only because its the dominant OS in use today. The same would be true if Apple and Microsoft's roles were reversed.

That's cool aid from MS. If there were fewer virii for Mac compared to Windows, I could understand that, but there is none at the moment. There are a lot of Macs and other UNIX based computers out there and they are inherently more secure. UNIX had decades of military and academic support and use behind it before it became popular. Hence its security and stability. However, we gotta admit, Windows is not as bad as it was a few years ago.

 

[notjustjay]

I don't believe any of you people who say you don't need antivirus. Believe me, it's necessary. Every computer I've used with XP at work, at home, wherever gets infected right away. How could a router solve that problem?

I ran Windows systems for YEARS and I've only ONCE had an issue with a real virus, and that was when NIMDA hit everyone at work back in 2000/2001.

I have never had a need for antivirus on a home PC. Feel free to "not believe me", but it's true. We have 'em at work because they're mandated by IT, but I have never seen any notification that the scanner caught a virus on its way to infecting my machine. Have you?

Take the obvious precautions (use a router/firewall) and don't surf porn or warez sites, and you'll be just fine.

 

[richkent72]

But... with the rise of people switching to Mac's these days one has to wonder when h@ackers will start writing more virus apps for it. Windows receives a bad rap from constant attacks only because its the dominant OS in use today. The same would be true if Apple and Microsoft's roles were reversed. Eventually the need for virus-protection on Mac will be needed. Hopefully not within my lifetime though!

Surely, as there are no 'in the wild' viruses there is more incentive to write Mac malware. Apple is a very well known brand and the first real virus to hit would be big news. If you're the kind of sad act who gets a kick out of buggering up other people's computers then I would have thought you'd be trying very hard to infect Macs. But, so far, no one's managed it.

 

[speakerwizard]

"Even though Apples new iPod customer strategy sucks,"

er? i thought the current ipods are by far the best and best priced, also we are now getting some drm free music and al the movie studios for rentals, so whats wrong?

 

[apsterling]

"Even though Apples new iPod customer strategy sucks,"

er? i thought the current ipods are by far the best and best priced, also we are now getting some drm free music and al the movie studios for rentals, so whats wrong?

The forced $20 for features iPhone users, and new Touch users get free... That's unacceptable in my opinion, but I've paid up. (I said I would, back when I first got it) I'll save this for the touch forums though.

I've got it all under control now- determined it was header spoofing in the first place, but I created a virtually uncrackable password.

 

[contoursvt]

This might be a long shot but a lot of viruses in windows land tend to be based on or are variants of other viruses so maybe there is some kind of 'virus tool kit' that is already out there allowing every 12 year old to write something. Not sure but maybe.... so being that OSX has no major viruses yet, someone would actually have to really write something from scratch which is harder.

Ok so not sure if this is possible but it might be one scenario.

Surely, as there are no 'in the wild' viruses there is more incentive to write Mac malware. Apple is a very well known brand and the first real virus to hit would be big news. If you're the kind of sad act who gets a kick out of buggering up other people's computers then I would have thought you'd be trying very hard to infect Macs. But, so far, no one's managed it.