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Mossberg: OS X "Rock Solid"; G5 iMac "Best" PC "Ever Reviewed"

Mossberg: OS X "Rock Solid"; G5 iMac "Best" PC "Ever Reviewed"

by , 2:00 AM EST, December 9th, 2004

Wall Street Journal technology columnist Walt Mossberg gave the highest praise possible to not one but two Apple Computer products in his Thursday Personal Technology column, calling Mac OS X "rock solid" and the G5 iMac "the single best desktop computer I have ever reviewed."

Mr. Mossberg used his weekly column to discuss the plague of viruses, spyware and other security problems that primarily affect the Windows platform. In it, he had mostly negative remarks of the Windows OS from Microsoft, but only good things to say about Mac OS X.

Instead of PCs being productivity tools, they have turned into burdens, Mr. Mossberg wrote.

"Consumers have been forced to devote rising amounts of time and money just to keeping the machines safe (from virus and spyware writers, hackers and sleazy businesses)," he wrote. " The PC has, in many cases, gone from being a solution to being, at least in part, a problem."

Mr. Mossberg placed the problem right at the doorstep of Microsoft, who he wrote has failed to cope with the growing problem of PC security. He blasted the company for setting users back with Windows XP and failing to meet many of the real security issues with its SP2 patch, released earlier this year.

But it was Mac OS X that Mr. Mossberg said was the clear choice when it came to a stable, security tight, fairly virus-free operating system.

"The Macintosh, with its OS X operating system, is rock solid," he wrote. "It is elegant, and -- when you do a feature-by-feature price comparison with Windows competitors -- it's surprisingly affordable."

Mr. Mossberg wrote Mac OS X is "packed" with extras Windows lacks, with multimedia programs "that can't be matched on Windows at any price", and has a "better free browser and e-mail program than Windows."

While admitting Apple's small marketshare is one reason few viruses attack the platform, Mr. Mossberg also acknowledged the UNIX-based OS is "harder to penetrate" than Windows.

"I'm sure there will eventually be viruses that afflict Mac users, but nowhere near the 5,000 new Windows viruses that appeared in just the first six months of this year," he wrote.

Mr. Mossberg said he feels Apple with Mac OS X has "opened a greater lead over Microsoft than at any time since the late 1980s."

He also dumped high praise on Apple's newest consumer Mac: "The company's new iMac G5 model is the single best desktop computer I have ever reviewed."

Editor's Note: Mr. Mossberg's column for Thursday, December 9 is available for one week free of charge to non-WSJ subscribers at the link provided in paragraph one of this story.

Observer Comments

Show: Subjects Only | Full Comments
Close Name:Guest
Subject: Speaking of viruses

... has MacObserver caught one from As the Apple Turns, the one which causes links to propagate all over an article?

Close Name:yakirz Posts: 457 Joined: 22 Nov 2002
Subject: Exactly

Last night I ran Ad-aware on my brother-in-law's Sony VAIO desktop. I run it on all the PCs I have to use, and usually can keep mine under control. Until last night, the record was around 1300 things found in one scan, on a friend's PC.

Now I have broken that record - 20,000 items found!!! The computer kept crashing just trying to delete the adware, and now it's lost its net connection, so I will be reformatting.

On the Mac side, I still am using a Rev C iMac, 288 MB, and of course haven't seen the first adware, virus, or (thanks to Mozilla and Safari) pop-up.

Close Name:Guest
Subject: Hmmm.

I kind of feel the same way about Windows users as I feel about gay people.
I think their making a mistake, but its really none of my buisness. I just wish they'd stop whining about their problems all the time Im sick of hearing it, like I said its none of my buisness.

Close Name:Biff Posts: 1479 Joined: 08 Apr 2004
Subject: Um... ok

Quote
Guest wrote:
I kind of feel the same way about Windows users as I feel about gay people.
I think their making a mistake, but its really none of my buisness. I just wish they'd stop whining about their problems all the time Im sick of hearing it, like I said its none of my buisness.
That was random. Also I disagree. I'm picturing your average Mac user who loves to go to Mac rally's and preach the beauty of their choice of computer orientation. You're getting confused with the married guy (Windows user) who's complaining about his wife (Windows).

Oh great now I am thinking about the fact that I have both a Mac and a PC. Oy. Stupid analogies.

Close Name:jonkroupa Posts: 48 Joined: 25 Mar 2004
Subject: Hmm.

"with multimedia programs 'that can't be matched on Windows at any price'"

That statement is a little over zealous. At any price? I am sure the windows community can come up with comparable products "at any price"

Close Name:Mace Posts: 9604 Joined: 07 Aug 2003
Subject:

Walt Mossberg is in love ... with ... Mac. He has not realised yet.

Close Name:Guest
Subject:

Quote
jonkroupa wrote:
"with multimedia programs 'that can't be matched on Windows at any price'"

That statement is a little over zealous. At any price? I am sure the windows community can come up with comparable products "at any price"


Agreed, he needs to watch it because that kind of statement can ruin his credibility of being a smart guy who isn't a platform partisan either way. That kind of hype is usually said by the closed-minded on either platform.

Close Name:Lanthar Posts: 54 Joined: 07 May 2004
Subject:

No, he is saying that, regardless of the amount you pay on a Windows solution, you will not currently find a set of multimedia programs that combine the power and ease of use that the OSX programs do. Yes, you can buy more powerful solutions (just like you can upgrade to FCP, DSP, and Motion), but that doesn't mean you are getting "better" programs.

Quote
Guest wrote:
Quote
jonkroupa wrote:
"with multimedia programs 'that can't be matched on Windows at any price'"

That statement is a little over zealous. At any price? I am sure the windows community can come up with comparable products "at any price"


Agreed, he needs to watch it because that kind of statement can ruin his credibility of being a smart guy who isn't a platform partisan either way. That kind of hype is usually said by the closed-minded on either platform.

Close Name:Guest
Subject: What A Joke

I have used Mac OS X in my school. We have both macs and windows machines. The Macs crashed at least 3 times more then the windows machines did. This year alone 0 PCs were infected with any viruses while one mac got hit with 1.

Close Name:Small White Car Posts: 1960 Joined: 02 Jul 2004
Subject: Re: What A Joke

Quote
Anonymous wrote:
I have used Mac OS X in my school. We have both macs and windows machines. The Macs crashed at least 3 times more then the windows machines did. This year alone 0 PCs were infected with any viruses while one mac got hit with 1.


What school do you go to?

Close Name:Guest
Subject: Re: What A Joke

Nassau Community College

Close Name:Guest
Subject:

Nassau Community College

Close Name:Guest
Subject: Re: What A Joke

OS8 OS9? There are currently NO known (non theoretical) OS X viruses in existence. If you're school isn't running OS X on their Macs by now, I'd be questioning my choice in schools, as they obviously aren't very well funded or knowledgeable.

Close Name:Guest
Subject:

It was OSX some one had brought it in On A CD, since the computers did not have any floppys.
The funny thing I fould is that I had my laptop with Windows XP with me for the year, and It never crashed or got a virus


Quote
Guest wrote:
OS8 OS9? There are currently NO known (non theoretical) OS X viruses in existence. If you're school isn't running OS X on their Macs by now, I'd be questioning my choice in schools, as they obviously aren't very well funded or knowledgeable.

Close Name:Small White Car Posts: 1960 Joined: 02 Jul 2004
Subject:

Quote
Anonymous wrote:

The funny thing I fould is that I had my laptop with Windows XP with me for the year, and It never crashed or got a virus


Did you USE your computer?

I'm never had ANY computer go a year without at least one crash.

The better computers only crahed once or twice during an entire year, but not NEVER.

Close Name:Mace Posts: 9604 Joined: 07 Aug 2003
Subject:

The resale value of his laptop should be pretty good since it is almost as new.

Seriously, do he surfs the web or uses emails? Do he has any internet security software or anti-virus programs installed? If yes to first and no to second, his laptop is infected but he is not aware.

Close Name:deasys Posts: 296 Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Subject: Guest Makes Startling Discovery!

"...while one mac got hit with 1...Nassau Community College...It was OSX some one had brought it in On A CD"

Guest claims that someone introduced a Mac OS X "virus" into one or more of Nassau Community College's Macs.

Bryan, you've got a genuine scoop here!

Guest, you're going to be famous!

Close Name:AFCdtLoeb Posts: 2533 Joined: 20 Jul 2004
Subject:

In my years with Windells, scanning for malware became a daily chore, and crashes came so often they were no big deal.

Also, I love this line:
"Since none had floppies". Guest, do you realize that OSX would take up more than a thousand floppies?

Close Name:Guest
Subject: Go easy on the guy

Guest seems genuine to me. He at least fessed up the name of his college. So what happens? Someone has to rubbish his school! Why are Mac users so partisan?

I've had plenty of problems with my Mac, not viruses but that damned Kernel Panic, an unforgiveable phenomenon for a 'rock-solid' OS. Of course, I was told that it might have been that extra memory that the Mac dealer installed... a hardware problem, maybe, but unforgiveable nonetheless.

I still like Macs but I'm not so cocky about it. Plus an aside here: using PCs at work, I've discovered the joy of being able to input Traditional Chinese characters with the same ease as Simplified Chinese characters. This is enough to bring tears to my eyes. Apple still only offer crappy one character at a time input for Traditional Characters using pinyin, and they don't seem to be in a hurry to change it, despite requests from the Mac community of Chinese-language users.

So soft-pedal the cockiness. You don't know when you'll be hoist on your own petard.

Close Name:Mace Posts: 9604 Joined: 07 Aug 2003
Subject:

Agreed. You won't go wrong for being humble.

Close Name:Guest
Subject: multimedia programs

Quote
jonkroupa wrote:
"with multimedia programs 'that can't be matched on Windows at any price'"

That statement is a little over zealous. At any price? I am sure the windows community can come up with comparable products "at any price"


I challenge any one to name something in the Windows world that is a match for iTunes (besides iTunes itself, of course) for any amount of money. Not just "specs", but actual ease of use as determined by the public. Why do you think iPod is so popular? The market place has spoken.

Close Name:Guest
Subject: last post

That was me, oldmac. It appeared that I was logged in but apparantly not.

Close Name:Guest
Subject: Nassau CC guest, a question ...

Are you sure this was a virus, and not just someone mucking with settings and the IT guy not being able to right things?

'Cause while a community college lab would probably be the first place to look for rare virii (I worked in a college lab for a while, so I know how they are great magnets for all sorts of scum programs), Mac OS X viruses are so rare as to be considered nonexistent in most cases.

As for no virus attacks on your Windows machines: you must have a top-notch lab admin working there! Kudos to him!

Close Name:jacrav Posts: 268 Joined: 04 Jul 2001
Subject: Nassau CC Guest :

Is your school under the special protection of MS God ?
2 miracles in a year: - Windows don’t crash, but Macs do …
                               - No viruses on PCs, but one on a Mac …
HARD TO BELIEVE ! Miracles in 2004 …
I found the faith and am switching right away …

Close Name:Guest
Subject: Windows is about as stable as Anna Nicole Smith at...

... the local bar at 2am

Close Name:Guest
Subject: From Your Guest Friend

I Am running Norton Antivirus as protection, Intall on demands are off, and the windows firewall is on.

I also do not download attachments from people I do not know, keep NAV up to date.

I even use outlook to read my mail (around 8 e-mail accounts linked to it)

Computer has been scanner several times for virus and adware, since people do not believe me. The only spyware it ever finds are cookies, which is not a big deal.

Close Name:Guest
Subject: About Nassau

In our college the windows machines are protect with anti-virus protect on the local machine and on the server.

The Macs, which is on a seperate network do not have any AV programs on the workstation or on their servers.

I am not saying that macs are bad, just they are vulnerable too.

Close Name:Guest
Subject: re: Nassau CC guest, a question ...

Yes I am sure that it was a virus since it erased the drives on 3 different macs. Two of which was in the lap and one that was in the Admin office.

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