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[BongoBanger]

Apple had 90% of the over $1000 computer market in the US in June, so why doesn't it have a comparable percentage of viruses?

No they didn't. They had over 90% in the retail market which excludes on-line sales and corporate purchases.

Care to guess where most of the premium Windows OEM sales are made?

Sorry. Show me a virus that will infect all my machines with ZERO interaction after one has been compromised.

Show me one for Vista that can attack without user intervention.

If you knew anything about PCs and Macs you would know that the basic architecture makes the Mac more secure. It has nothing to do with numbers.

That would have been true up until XP. It isn't anymore.

See this is the thing that gets me - Mac fans quite rightly point out that OS 9 was a festering infected sore - mainly because it was horribly, horribly unsecure - and that OS X is much, much better but then go on about Windows viruses as if it remains a massive issue on their current operating system version. Sure, it took MS about seven more years to get to where OS X is in terms of user protection but they got there with Vista which is the current - at least until October 22 - iteration of Windows.

So when people say 'Windows is full of viruses' what they actually mean is 'legacy versions of Windows are full of viruses'. Unfortunately that's not been true since 2007 which is why the new ads are kind of flogging a dead horse.

 

[paja]

Disapointing ads

Sorry, neither of these ads do anything for me. Rather bad really. The worst of the Apple ads so far in my opinion.

 

[*LTD*]

Viruses for Windows (just a small sampling out of ~ 100,000+):


Millions of Windows PCs taken over by hackers, including UK and US gov’t machines; Macs unaffected - April 22, 2009
Windows Conficker kicks into action, able to steal data from infected PCs; Macintosh unaffected - April 10, 2009
Windows Conficker worm awakens, updates via P2P, begins to drop payload; Macintosh unaffected - April 09, 2009
Millions of infected Windows PCs set to go off on April 1; Macintosh unaffected - March 31, 2009
Millions of infected Microsoft Windows PCs face doomsday on April 1; Macintosh unaffected - March 24, 2009
Windows data-stealing ‘Tigger’ trojan infects stock trading firms; Macintosh users unaffected - March 10, 2009
French navy fighter planes grounded by Windows worm; Mac-based naval systems unaffected - February 25, 2009
Houston courts shut down due to Windows virus; Macs unaffected - February 10, 2009
Windows virus knocks out Vancouver school computers for three weeks and counting; Macs unaffected - January 31, 2009
Massive Windows virus with mystery payload continues to spread rapidly; Macintosh unaffected - January 26, 2009
Massive Windows virus continues rapid spread, also affects Vista, Windows 7; Macintosh unaffected - January 21, 2009
Windows PC worm infection numbers skyrocket; Macintosh unaffected - January 19, 2009
Dangerous new sleeper virus exposes millions of Windows PCs to hijack; Macintosh unaffected - January 16, 2009
Zero-day attack targets all versions of Internet Explorer; Mac users unaffected - December 12, 2008
Windows worm loose on International Space Station; Mac-using astronauts unaffected - August 27, 2008
Microsoft inflicts Internet Explorer 8 Beta; Mac users unaffected - March 05, 2008
Gathering ‘Storm’ superworm poses grave threat to Windows PCs; Apple Macs unaffected - October 19, 2007
Windows virus cripples Florida newspaper; Mac-based publishers unaffected - March 02, 2007
Insidious Windows virus threatens business networks worldwide; Macintosh unaffected - March 01, 2007
Windows ‘Storm Worm’ rages across globe; Apple Macintosh unaffected - January 19, 2007
Sony, Gracenote sound alarm over Microsoft flaw; Macintosh unaffected - September 19, 2006
PowerPoint zero-day attack compromises data in infected Windows PCs; Mac OS X unaffected - July 21, 2006
Windows PC users infected with worm face loss of all Microsoft, Adobe files; Mac users unaffected - January 31, 2006
Microsoft Windows’ Zero-Day WMF flaw threats widespread; Macintosh unaffected - December 29, 2005
Microsoft Windows virus spreads rapidly; Apple Macintosh unaffected - November 28, 2005
Windows users fall victim to huge ID theft ring, 50 banks in danger; Apple Mac users unaffected - August 25, 2005
Quickly spreading Microsoft Windows worm affects CNN, ABC, NY Times; Apple Macintosh unaffected - August 16, 2005
‘Zotob’ worm rapidly infects Microsoft Windows; Macintosh unaffected - August 15, 2005
16-percent of computer users are unaffected by viruses, malware because they use Apple Macs - June 15, 2005
Microsoft warns of critical Windows flaws; unaffected Mac users just continue working - June 15, 2005
Michael Jackson suicide spam hides Windows virus; Macintosh unaffected - June 10, 2005
Windows Sober.p poised to attack this Monday; Macintosh unaffected - May 21, 2005
Microsoft Windows Sober.P worm shows ‘epidemic’ spread; Macintosh unaffected - May 03, 2005
Anzae/Inzae worm affects all Windows versions after 3.1; Macintosh unaffected - December 28, 2004
Windows Mydoom worm variant spreading in the wild; Macintosh unaffected - November 09, 2004
Windows XP worm speaks to users as it deletes their files; Macintosh unaffected - September 13, 2004
Millions of Windows PC’s hijacked by hackers, turned into zombies; Macintosh unaffected - September 08, 2004
Windows ‘Zindos’ virus spreads, attacks Microsoft.com; Macintosh unaffected - July 29, 2004
New Windows Bagle virus variants spread; Macintosh unaffected - July 16, 2004
Windows Lovegate worm variant renders computers useless; Macintosh unaffected - July 08, 2004
Windows Scob virus collects passwords, financial data; Macintosh unaffected - July 05, 2004
Windows ‘Scob’ virus designed to steal financial data, passwords; Macintosh unaffected - June 26, 2004
Windows users warned of infectious Web sites that take over computers; Mac users unaffected - June 25, 2004
Windows Korgo virus ‘aggressively stealing’ credit card numbers; Macintosh unaffected - June 04, 2004
First Windows 64-bit virus appears; Macintosh unaffected - May 27, 2004
Windows Wallon virus wipes out Microsoft Media Player on infected PCs; Macintosh unaffected - May 12, 2004
Windows Sasser worm mutates, knocks out banks, EC; Macintosh unaffected - May 04, 2004
Windows Sasser worm severely disrupts UK coastguard; Mac users remain unaffected - May 04, 2004
Windows Sasser net worm spreading rapidly; Macintosh unaffected - May 03, 2004
Sen. Edward Kennedy’s Apple Mac-based office totally unaffected by viruses - March 22, 2004
Five new Windows Bagle virus variants break nasty new ground; Macintosh unaffected - March 19, 2004
Windows worm, virus outbreaks intensify; Macintosh unaffected - March 03, 2004
Destructive MyDoom.F virus deletes Windows users’ files; Macintosh unaffected - March 01, 2004
Netsky-D Windows worm spreading; Macintosh unaffected - March 01, 2004
Windows users suffer five new Bagle worm variants; Macintosh unaffected - March 01, 2004
New MyDoom Windows worm deletes random files; Macintosh unaffected - February 25, 2004
Windows NetSky e-mail worm spreading; Macintosh unaffected - February 18, 2004
Windows virus ‘Bagle.B’ spreading; Macintosh unaffected - February 17, 2004
‘Doomjuice’ worm emerges, targets Microsoft; Macintosh unaffected - February 10, 2004
New version of Mydoom Windows virus appears, attacks Microsoft; Macintosh unaffected - January 28, 2004
Latest Windows virus ‘MyDoom’ sets new infection records worldwide; Macintosh unaffected - January 27, 2004
‘MyDoom’ Windows virus spreads rapidly; Macintosh unaffected - January 26, 2004
New Windows worm spreading ‘hard and fast’ worldwide; Macintosh unaffected - January 19, 2004
Florida students patch 360 PCs in marathon session due to Blaster virus; their Macs unaffected - October 01, 2003
Pennsylvania school district’s PCs infected with virus; their Macs unaffected - October 01, 2003
New ‘Swen worm’ masquerades as Windows Security Update; Macintosh unaffected - September 19, 2003
University of Illinois still patching all Windows machines; Macintosh unaffected - September 05, 2003
Montana school district’s Windows computers offline due to worm; Macintosh computers unaffected - September 03, 2003
A tale of two school systems: Windows schools crippled while Mac schools unaffected - August 21, 2003
SoBig virus variant rapidly inflecting Windows machines; Macintosh unaffected - August 19, 2003
Windows Blaster worm to attack Microsoft on Saturday; Macintosh unaffected - August 13, 2003
MBlast Worm spreads through flaw in Windows; Macintosh unaffected - August 11, 2003
Hackers hijack Windows PCs for porn serving; Macintosh unaffected - July 11, 2003
Palyh Worm strikes Windows users worldwide; Macintosh unaffected - May 19, 2003
Microsoft bug exposes millions to attack; Macintosh unaffected - November 20, 2002


OS X viruses:

Two dumb trojans in nearly nine years.

Any questions?

If Mac don't get viruses malware trojans or whatever you want to call it.

Then why was this found in Snow Leopard?

http://blog.intego.com/2009/08/25/snow-leopard-contains-an-antivirus/

Looks to me like virus, malware, trojan protection to me.

And we're hearing about this JUST NOW? Two days before SL's release . . .

Seems very suspicious. Intego's just dying to get people to use their useless software.

The source of the image is an Intego blog:

http://blog.intego.com/2009/08/25/snow-leopard-contains-an-antivirus/

 

[lex750]

No they didn't. They had over 90% in the retail market which excludes on-line sales and corporate purchases.

Care to guess where most of the premium Windows OEM sales are made?



Show me one for Vista that can attack without user intervention.



That would have been true up until XP. It isn't anymore.

See this is the thing that gets me - Mac fans quite rightly point out that OS 9 was a festering infected sore - mainly because it was horribly, horribly unsecure - and that OS X is much, much better but then go on about Windows viruses as if it remains a massive issue on their current operating system version. Sure, it took MS about seven more years to get to where OS X is in terms of user protection but they got there with Vista which is the current - at least until October 22 - iteration of Windows.

So when people say 'Windows is full of viruses' what they actually mean is 'legacy versions of Windows are full of viruses'. Unfortunately that's not been true since 2007 which is why the new ads are kind of flogging a dead horse.

Very well said. I'm tired of "but, windows get's viruses", blah blah blah. Time for a new strategy.

 

[lex750]

Viruses for Windows (just a small sampling out of ~ 100,000+):


Millions of Windows PCs taken over by hackers, including UK and US gov’t machines; Macs unaffected - April 22, 2009
Windows Conficker kicks into action, able to steal data from infected PCs; Macintosh unaffected - April 10, 2009
Windows Conficker worm awakens, updates via P2P, begins to drop payload; Macintosh unaffected - April 09, 2009
Millions of infected Windows PCs set to go off on April 1; Macintosh unaffected - March 31, 2009
Millions of infected Microsoft Windows PCs face doomsday on April 1; Macintosh unaffected - March 24, 2009
Windows data-stealing ‘Tigger’ trojan infects stock trading firms; Macintosh users unaffected - March 10, 2009
French navy fighter planes grounded by Windows worm; Mac-based naval systems unaffected - February 25, 2009
Houston courts shut down due to Windows virus; Macs unaffected - February 10, 2009
Windows virus knocks out Vancouver school computers for three weeks and counting; Macs unaffected - January 31, 2009
Massive Windows virus with mystery payload continues to spread rapidly; Macintosh unaffected - January 26, 2009
Massive Windows virus continues rapid spread, also affects Vista, Windows 7; Macintosh unaffected - January 21, 2009
Windows PC worm infection numbers skyrocket; Macintosh unaffected - January 19, 2009
Dangerous new sleeper virus exposes millions of Windows PCs to hijack; Macintosh unaffected - January 16, 2009
Zero-day attack targets all versions of Internet Explorer; Mac users unaffected - December 12, 2008
Windows worm loose on International Space Station; Mac-using astronauts unaffected - August 27, 2008
Microsoft inflicts Internet Explorer 8 Beta; Mac users unaffected - March 05, 2008
Gathering ‘Storm’ superworm poses grave threat to Windows PCs; Apple Macs unaffected - October 19, 2007
Windows virus cripples Florida newspaper; Mac-based publishers unaffected - March 02, 2007
Insidious Windows virus threatens business networks worldwide; Macintosh unaffected - March 01, 2007
Windows ‘Storm Worm’ rages across globe; Apple Macintosh unaffected - January 19, 2007
Sony, Gracenote sound alarm over Microsoft flaw; Macintosh unaffected - September 19, 2006
PowerPoint zero-day attack compromises data in infected Windows PCs; Mac OS X unaffected - July 21, 2006
Windows PC users infected with worm face loss of all Microsoft, Adobe files; Mac users unaffected - January 31, 2006
Microsoft Windows’ Zero-Day WMF flaw threats widespread; Macintosh unaffected - December 29, 2005
Microsoft Windows virus spreads rapidly; Apple Macintosh unaffected - November 28, 2005
Windows users fall victim to huge ID theft ring, 50 banks in danger; Apple Mac users unaffected - August 25, 2005
Quickly spreading Microsoft Windows worm affects CNN, ABC, NY Times; Apple Macintosh unaffected - August 16, 2005
‘Zotob’ worm rapidly infects Microsoft Windows; Macintosh unaffected - August 15, 2005
16-percent of computer users are unaffected by viruses, malware because they use Apple Macs - June 15, 2005
Microsoft warns of critical Windows flaws; unaffected Mac users just continue working - June 15, 2005
Michael Jackson suicide spam hides Windows virus; Macintosh unaffected - June 10, 2005
Windows Sober.p poised to attack this Monday; Macintosh unaffected - May 21, 2005
Microsoft Windows Sober.P worm shows ‘epidemic’ spread; Macintosh unaffected - May 03, 2005
Anzae/Inzae worm affects all Windows versions after 3.1; Macintosh unaffected - December 28, 2004
Windows Mydoom worm variant spreading in the wild; Macintosh unaffected - November 09, 2004
Windows XP worm speaks to users as it deletes their files; Macintosh unaffected - September 13, 2004
Millions of Windows PC’s hijacked by hackers, turned into zombies; Macintosh unaffected - September 08, 2004
Windows ‘Zindos’ virus spreads, attacks Microsoft.com; Macintosh unaffected - July 29, 2004
New Windows Bagle virus variants spread; Macintosh unaffected - July 16, 2004
Windows Lovegate worm variant renders computers useless; Macintosh unaffected - July 08, 2004
Windows Scob virus collects passwords, financial data; Macintosh unaffected - July 05, 2004
Windows ‘Scob’ virus designed to steal financial data, passwords; Macintosh unaffected - June 26, 2004
Windows users warned of infectious Web sites that take over computers; Mac users unaffected - June 25, 2004
Windows Korgo virus ‘aggressively stealing’ credit card numbers; Macintosh unaffected - June 04, 2004
First Windows 64-bit virus appears; Macintosh unaffected - May 27, 2004
Windows Wallon virus wipes out Microsoft Media Player on infected PCs; Macintosh unaffected - May 12, 2004
Windows Sasser worm mutates, knocks out banks, EC; Macintosh unaffected - May 04, 2004
Windows Sasser worm severely disrupts UK coastguard; Mac users remain unaffected - May 04, 2004
Windows Sasser net worm spreading rapidly; Macintosh unaffected - May 03, 2004
Sen. Edward Kennedy’s Apple Mac-based office totally unaffected by viruses - March 22, 2004
Five new Windows Bagle virus variants break nasty new ground; Macintosh unaffected - March 19, 2004
Windows worm, virus outbreaks intensify; Macintosh unaffected - March 03, 2004
Destructive MyDoom.F virus deletes Windows users’ files; Macintosh unaffected - March 01, 2004
Netsky-D Windows worm spreading; Macintosh unaffected - March 01, 2004
Windows users suffer five new Bagle worm variants; Macintosh unaffected - March 01, 2004
New MyDoom Windows worm deletes random files; Macintosh unaffected - February 25, 2004
Windows NetSky e-mail worm spreading; Macintosh unaffected - February 18, 2004
Windows virus ‘Bagle.B’ spreading; Macintosh unaffected - February 17, 2004
‘Doomjuice’ worm emerges, targets Microsoft; Macintosh unaffected - February 10, 2004
New version of Mydoom Windows virus appears, attacks Microsoft; Macintosh unaffected - January 28, 2004
Latest Windows virus ‘MyDoom’ sets new infection records worldwide; Macintosh unaffected - January 27, 2004
‘MyDoom’ Windows virus spreads rapidly; Macintosh unaffected - January 26, 2004
New Windows worm spreading ‘hard and fast’ worldwide; Macintosh unaffected - January 19, 2004
Florida students patch 360 PCs in marathon session due to Blaster virus; their Macs unaffected - October 01, 2003
Pennsylvania school district’s PCs infected with virus; their Macs unaffected - October 01, 2003
New ‘Swen worm’ masquerades as Windows Security Update; Macintosh unaffected - September 19, 2003
University of Illinois still patching all Windows machines; Macintosh unaffected - September 05, 2003
Montana school district’s Windows computers offline due to worm; Macintosh computers unaffected - September 03, 2003
A tale of two school systems: Windows schools crippled while Mac schools unaffected - August 21, 2003
SoBig virus variant rapidly inflecting Windows machines; Macintosh unaffected - August 19, 2003
Windows Blaster worm to attack Microsoft on Saturday; Macintosh unaffected - August 13, 2003
MBlast Worm spreads through flaw in Windows; Macintosh unaffected - August 11, 2003
Hackers hijack Windows PCs for porn serving; Macintosh unaffected - July 11, 2003
Palyh Worm strikes Windows users worldwide; Macintosh unaffected - May 19, 2003
Microsoft bug exposes millions to attack; Macintosh unaffected - November 20, 2002


OS X viruses:

Two dumb trojans in nearly nine years.

Any questions?





And we're hearing about this JUST NOW? Two days before SL's release . . .

Seems very suspicious. Intego's just dying to get people to use their useless software.

The source of the image is an Intego blog:

http://blog.intego.com/2009/08/25/snow-leopard-contains-an-antivirus/

If 90% of the malware makers used a Mac don't you think the tables would be turned around here?

Sure Windows will have more malware. A five year old child could figure that out.

This is what Intego had to say:

Snow Leopard Contains an Antivirus

"We’ve gotten reports about an interesting feature in Snow Leopard, the new version of Mac OS X due for release this Friday. According to reports we’ve seen – and the screen shot below – Snow Leopard contains an antimalware feature.

We’re not sure yet exactly how this works, but the above screen shot shows this feature working with a download made via Safari, detecting a version of the RSPlug Trojan horse in a downloaded disk image.

We’re naturally curious about this feature, and about how thorough it is. As soon as we can find out more, we’ll post an article here. We wonder just how serious Apple thinks the malware threat is, especially since their latest Get a Mac ads highlight the fact that PCs running Windows suffer from viruses… "

http://blog.intego.com/2009/08/25/snow-leopard-contains-an-antivirus/

I don't think they are making it up.

 

[BongoBanger]

LTD,

I appreciate what you're saying and I do think Macs are safer - if no more fundamentally secure than Vista or W7 boxes - but these aren't all viruses. Conficker, for example, is a worm and a lot of those references are to trojans which can be written for pretty much any system.

I don't think it's really possible to infect the current generation operating systems with a traditional virus - something that doesn't require user input and then self replicates - anymore.

Saying 'Windows PCs' are prone to viruses is just as valid as saying 'Apple PCs' are prone to viruses because we're talking legacy systems - XP and back for Windows, System 9 and back for Apple. Sure, Apple's security was massivley better than Windows' for about 7 or 8 years but that's not the case anymore.

As for the anti-malware feature in SL, that's surely a good thing since we know that trojans and other malware can be installed on any OS these days?

 

[h4ck]

really? and a lard manufacturer is going to tell you lard is healthy, cigarette companies are going to tell you it tastes great and is "cool" ..... they have a vested interested in getting virus information out into the public regardless of how empty and watered down the threat is.

*sigh* wake up.

If 90% of the malware makers used a Mac don't you think the tables would be turned around here?

Sure Windows will have more malware. A five year old child could figure that out.

This is what Intego had to say:

Snow Leopard Contains an Antivirus

"We’ve gotten reports about an interesting feature in Snow Leopard, the new version of Mac OS X due for release this Friday. According to reports we’ve seen – and the screen shot below – Snow Leopard contains an antimalware feature.

We’re not sure yet exactly how this works, but the above screen shot shows this feature working with a download made via Safari, detecting a version of the RSPlug Trojan horse in a downloaded disk image.

We’re naturally curious about this feature, and about how thorough it is. As soon as we can find out more, we’ll post an article here. We wonder just how serious Apple thinks the malware threat is, especially since their latest Get a Mac ads highlight the fact that PCs running Windows suffer from viruses… "

http://blog.intego.com/2009/08/25/snow-leopard-contains-an-antivirus/

I don't think they are making it up.

furthermore, the top left first "recent article" is them saying "intego software is fully compatible with snow leopard!"

wow! what better way to sell something than to drum up fear, and be the one with the solution................

"hey, while you're reading our blog about viruses, you better get a copy of our software while you're at it...."

Snow Leopard Contains an Antivirus

"We’ve gotten reports about an interesting feature in Snow Leopard, the new version of Mac OS X due for release this Friday. According to reports we’ve seen – and the screen shot below – Snow Leopard contains an antimalware feature.

We’re not sure yet exactly how this works, but the above screen shot shows this feature working with a download made via Safari, detecting a version of the RSPlug Trojan horse in a downloaded disk image.

We’re naturally curious about this feature, and about how thorough it is. As soon as we can find out more, we’ll post an article here. We wonder just how serious Apple thinks the malware threat is, especially since their latest Get a Mac ads highlight the fact that PCs running Windows suffer from viruses… "

http://blog.intego.com/2009/08/25/snow-leopard-contains-an-antivirus/

I don't think they are making it up.

 

[dewalt]

I just dont see the point of paying a LARGE premium for a Mac.

I bought my wife a 13" MBP, but after selling the printer and free ipod, the price was comparable.

My problem with the 15" MBP is that for $1600, there is no dedicated video card. I can hackintosh an HP or Dell for MUCH cheaper. And a Mac Pro is most definitely overpriced, when comparing the hardware.

I've now used OSX and Win 7 daily, and I dont see the big deal about OSX over Win 7. They both have their advantages and disadvantages.

 

[dejo]

No they didn't. They had over 90% in the retail market which excludes on-line sales and corporate purchases.

Care to guess where most of the premium Windows OEM sales are made?

Let's not guess. It makes for shaky arguments. Instead, let's present some actual proof.

 

[*LTD*]

Let's not guess. It makes for shaky arguments. Instead, let's present some actual proof.

If Apple rules the $1000+ notebook market, in terms of retail done through phyisical, brick-and-mortar stores, then it means they rule the $1000+ notebook consumer market. We're talking Best Buy and similar outlets here. That's pretty significant. And the average user will still walk into a physical store to buy a computer - not a small shop that "builds" them (and which spring up and go out of business almost daily), but a large retail outlet.

Incidentally, much like you saw in those Laptop Hunters commercials. Even Microsoft sees the average consumer as a customer in one of those stores.

 

[lex750]

furthermore, the top left first "recent article" is them saying "intego software is fully compatible with snow leopard!"

wow! what better way to sell something than to drum up fear, and be the one with the solution................

"hey, while you're reading our blog about viruses, you better get a copy of our software while you're at it...."

So you are saying that the screenshot of Snow Leopard's malware protection feature is all made up by this company to get you to buy their software?

If Apple included this feature in Snow Leopard, there's a reason why. Maybe there is more to those "Security Updates" than meets the eye.

Think about it.

 

[BongoBanger]

If Apple rules the $1000+ notebook market, in terms of retail done through phyisical, brick-and-mortar stores, then it means they rule the $1000+ notebook consumer market.

You're excluding Dell and HP's (amongst others) on-line sales which are pretty substantial. It's difficult to get exact figures without wading through their returns though.

As for corporate sales that's difficult to nail down. I think Fortune magazine had the corporate market at about 50% in 2008.

That said, I woud say that Apple probably do have the vast majority of the consumer market at that price segment given the ASP for a Macbook is £1,400 and a Windows laptop OEM (excludign netbooks) is about $700. Whether this actually means anything is a different matter - if the competing Windows products are priced at $999 it doesn't, if they're over $1,000 it does and since the ASP for a Window OEM is, as mentioned, $700 I'm not sure it does.

What it does indicate is that the people who are economising aren't Apple buyers.

 

[*LTD*]

You're excluding Dell and HP's (amongst others) on-line sales which are pretty substantial. It's difficult to get exact figures without wading through their returns though.

As for corporate sales that's difficult to nail down. I think Fortune magazine had the corporate market at about 50% in 2008.

That said, I woud say that Apple probably do have the vast majority of the consumer market at that price segment given the ASP for a Macbook is £1,400 and a Windows laptop OEM (excludign netbooks) is about $700. Whether this actually means anything is a different matter - if the competing Windows products are priced at $999 it doesn't, if they're over $1,000 it does and since the ASP for a Window OEM is, as mentioned, $700 I'm not sure it does.

What it does indicate is that the people who are economising aren't Apple buyers.

Agreed.

I would be interesting to see global figures for (consumer) online vs. store sales.

 

[Zimmy68]

LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA

 

[DMann]

LTD,

I appreciate what you're saying and I do think Macs are safer - if no more fundamentally secure than Vista or W7 boxes - but these aren't all viruses. Conficker, for example, is a worm and a lot of those references are to trojans which can be written for pretty much any system.

I don't think it's really possible to infect the current generation operating systems with a traditional virus - something that doesn't require user input and then self replicates - anymore.

Saying 'Windows PCs' are prone to viruses is more just as valid as than saying 'Apple PCs' are prone to viruses because we're talking legacy systems - XP

Which is precisely the point. Since over 54% of all Windows users are currently using XP, viruses, malware, and spyware remain a seriously daunting issue for Windows.

 

[sushi]

I've got more if you need "proof". Don't be lazy just "goolge it".

When you "goolge" something you might want to read through the article instead of just streaming headlines.

First, you misspelled "google"

Like a typ-o is an issue, but if you wanna make it just to prove your point they feel free.

lex750, thank you for the laugh!

First you misspell Google, then itsmenyc pokes a little fun at you about misspelling Google, then you correct him for misspelling Google when you did in the first place.

Classic! Thanks for the laugh.

If Mac don't get viruses malware trojans or whatever you want to call it.

Please do yourself a favor and go read up a bit on these terms because it is rather obvious from your input that you do not understand what these words mean or represent.

To date, there have been no virus in the wild for Mac OS X. Please post about any real virus for Mac OS X. TIA.

 

[lex750]

lex750, thank you for the laugh!

First you misspell Google, then itsmenyc pokes a little fun at you about misspelling Google, then you correct him for misspelling Google when you did in the first place.

Classic! Thanks for the laugh.


Please do yourself a favor and go read up a bit on these terms because it is rather obvious from your input that you do not understand what these words mean or represent.

To date, there have been no virus in the wild for Mac OS X. Please post about any real virus for Mac OS X. TIA.

I did not correct him for misspelling google. That was a quote from his response to me. "First, you misspelled "google"" Unfortunately I did not place his comment as a quote. Maybe that's where your misinterpretation came about. Which my response to him was, "Like a typ-o is an issue, but if you wanna make it just to prove your point they feel free."

I find it lame when people correct other people's typ-o so as to discredit that persons post in some way. I even find it lammer when other people find it funny.

I think your hangup on the word "virus" is the problem here. It does not matter if you get a virus, trojan, worm, it's all malware, all of them break your system in a bad way and disrupt your ability to use it.

As per posting links, please read back a few pages. I've posted quite a few.

But as they say, "Denial is not just a river in Egypt."

 

[*LTD*]

I think your hangup on the word "virus" is the problem here. It does not matter if you get a virus, trojan, worm, it's all malware, all of them break your system in a bad way and disrupt your ability to use it.

Except for the ones that don't actually do anything.

 

[Eddyisgreat]

I think your hangup on the word "virus" is the problem here. It does not matter if you get a virus, trojan, worm, it's all malware, all of them break your system in a bad way and disrupt your ability to use it.

No, its people who think they know everything and spout of fiction as the truth. User installed trojans are no where as debilitating as worms like conficker. You want to portray this image of a mac box being hooked up to the internet completly naked (without antivirus) and subsequently getting taken over within the hour and infested with malware, which isn't the case. The ONLY instances you can come up with are user installed trojans. If a user does something stupid that doesn't make the OS unsecure. Likewise the users wern't at fault for something like conficker unless they refused to patch their machines once it start to spread. That was microshafts fault for having the exploit in the first place.

 

[lex750]

Except for the ones that don't actually do anything.

Another well thought out, articulate, in-depth response. Thank you!

Just like this one.

Viruses for Windows (just a small sampling out of ~ 100,000+):


Millions of Windows PCs taken over by hackers, including UK and US gov’t machines; Macs unaffected - April 22, 2009
Windows Conficker kicks into action, able to steal data from infected PCs; Macintosh unaffected - April 10, 2009
Windows Conficker worm awakens, updates via P2P, begins to drop payload; Macintosh unaffected - April 09, 2009
Millions of infected Windows PCs set to go off on April 1; Macintosh unaffected - March 31, 2009

Mac users were not affected? Why? Because the malware was written for 90% of market share Windows users. Not for Mac OS X users. So who in their right mind would even consider it at threat, and spam the forum with this "Mackintosh unaffected" BS. Really.

No, its people who think they know everything and spout of fiction as the truth. User installed trojans are no where as debilitating as worms like conficker. You want to portray this image of a mac box being hooked up to the internet completly naked (without antivirus) and subsequently getting taken over within the hour and infested with malware, which isn't the case. The ONLY instances you can come up with are user installed trojans. If a user does something stupid that doesn't make the OS unsecure. Likewise the users wern't at fault for something like conficker unless they refused to patch their machines once it start to spread. That was microshafts fault for having the exploit in the first place.

I guess this never happened in 2008?

"PWN 2 OWN over: MacBook Air gets seized in 2 minutes flat"

http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/27/pwn-2-own-over-macbook-air-gets-seized-in-2-minutes-flat/

 

[DMann]

Another well thought out, articulate, in-depth response. Thank you!

Just like this one.

Mac users were not affected? Why? Because the malware was written for 90% of market share Windows users. Not for Mac OS X users. So who in their right mind would even consider it at threat, and spam the forum with this "Mackintosh unaffected" BS. Really.

And this is not due to the fact that Windows has been easier than Swiss Cheese to penetrate since its inception, and that over 54% of Windows users are still using XP? OS 9, leagues more secure than earlier versions of Windows, was targeted for viruses while it was at less than 10% of market share - still not one for OS X - nada. The 90% excuse does not apply here, especially since only 22% are currently using Vista - perhaps it is time that all Vista users protest and run online without protection, since it is allegedly as secure as OS X.

 

[lex750]

And this is not due to the fact that Windows has been easier than Swiss Cheese to penetrate since its inception, and that over 54% of Windows users are still using XP? OS 9, leagues more secure than earlier versions of Windows, was targeted for viruses while it was at less than 10% of market share - still not one for OS X - nada. The 90% excuse does not apply here, especially since only 22% are currently using Vista - perhaps its time all Vista us users all protest and run online without protection, since it is allegedly as secure as OS X.

Not according to this... Mac OS X came in at THIRD place. Vista 2nd. Ubuntu 1st. Unless you want to deny those FACTS, then be my guest.

"PWN 2 OWN over: MacBook Air gets seized in 2 minutes flat"

http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/27/p...-minutes-flat/

 

[*LTD*]

And this is not due to the fact that Windows has been easier than Swiss Cheese to penetrate since its inception, and that over 54% of Windows users are still using XP? OS 9, leagues more secure than earlier versions of Windows, was targeted for viruses while it was at less than 10% of market share - still not one for OS X - nada. The 90% excuse does not apply here, especially since only 22% are currently using Vista - perhaps it is time that all Vista users protest and run online without protection, since it is allegedly as secure as OS X.

In 2001, Windows XP shipped with 5 open ports. Yes, when we were well into the internet age, this is what MS did, in an environemnt that was laready teeming with viruses. Does it come as a surprise that Windows malware today numbers well above 100,000? It's due to MS' extreme negligence in the past.

Further, before 03-04, MS had no such thing as user-permission prompts (among other secuirty features.) MS really had no viable, effective concept of security in any of its operating systems until Vista. Which finally caught Windows up to where everyone else (such as Linux) had been for years.

 

[sushi]

I did not correct him for misspelling google.

Okay, let me put it to you plane.

Unless I missed something, this is the chain of events:

1. You misspelled Google as "Goolge" in this post.

2. Then itsmenyc poked fun with this post.

3. Then you replied with this post.

BTW, I am not trying to be a grammar/speller police. I make plenty of mistakes myself. But the way you present yourself in the exchange above, and in other responses, indicates to me that you are mixing a lot of details when discussing a detailed issue.

I think your hangup on the word "virus" is the problem here. It does not matter if you get a virus, trojan, worm, it's all malware, all of them break your system in a bad way and disrupt your ability to use it.

As per posting links, please read back a few pages. I've posted quite a few.

Please go read some more. Comments like this show your lack of knowledge in this area.

Your linked articles have proven nothing when it comes to a virus for the Mac OS X operating system. As others have repeatedly stated to you.

For some reason, you tend to spout information that is incorrect about words like malware, Trojan, virus, etc. When you do this, you lose credibility.

Anyhow, up to you on how to proceed.

 

[DMann]

Not according to this... Mac OS X came in at THIRD place. Vista 2nd. Ubuntu 1st. Unless you want to deny those FACTS, then be my guest.

"PWN 2 OWN over: MacBook Air gets seized in 2 minutes flat"

http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/27/p...-minutes-flat/

Deny what facts? Hacking with physical contact of said computer is known as 'Data Mining,' and has nothing to do with security breeches which involve hackers who do not know your password, and who are not directly in front of your machine. Merely wishing OS X were as prone to viruses as Windows doesn't make it true - Next