Okay you gotta check out the Joy of Tech comic for May 8-9. If you use this link today you can see it, in the future you will need to click on the archives buttons.

http://www.geekculture.com/joyoftech/index.html

That's a great cartoon, Guest. Thanks for the link.

We need more articles of the type that Jaquith puts out to counter the lousy FUD from McAfee. Its unfortunate that if you say it loud enough and long enough, the general populous will start believing it. So do everyone a favor, give Newsfactor their page hits, and educate everyone against the use of McAfee products.

I've been using Mac OS X since day one. Between myself, my wife and two teens, we log HOURS and HOURS of Internet time EVERY day of the week. We download Demo programs, software, misuc, photos, you name it. We have NEVER had a virus or glitch of any kind. Though this in itself is not a guarantee that OS X is 'bullit-proof', it's surely a good indicator. The fact that MacAfee is the one telling us that the Mac is just as vulnerable as Windows is VERY much like the Fox guarding the Henhouse... hmmm, wonder what's in this for THEM??!!

Buy Intego. You don't see them trying to convince people that Macs aren't safe. Rather than making those few Mac "viruses" into a huge doomsday prediction on the fall of Mac, they quietly updated their software and didn't try to push it on anyone. The only companies you see telling people that Mac viruses are going to flood the net are ones who aren't currently making any money off Mac antivirus programs but want to be. Was it Norton or McAfee who used to have a Mac version but discontinued it because no one needed it? Now that McAfee is making an attempt at putting out software for Mactels they need to convince people that it's a product they want even if it's useless.
The increased level of interest on writting viruses for Macs is basically coming from antivirus companies who publish vulnerabilities and how to exploit them so that they can sell more software to block viruses they've helped to create.

Have you ever used their nag-ware on a PC? It never, ever stops begging you to upgrade, even when you dismiss it's many annoying pleas. McAffee produces beg-ware of the most annoying sort, and I certainly hope they don't infect the Macintosh world with their shady products.

A guest wrote:
"The only companies you see telling people that Mac viruses are going to flood the net are ones who aren't currently making any money off Mac antivirus programs but want to be."

I think there may be more to this. Elsewhere, it's been reported that the quality of McAfee's Mac AntiVirus program is very poor, old code that has to run on rosetta on current Macs. Why make such noise, when you can't deliver a program that could get a decent review?
I don't think this is about selling software. It's about FUD.
They were put up to this, and probably well paid.

Some day we are going get a serious Mac virus. Right now I feel secure, I don't run as root, and I have some folder actions set up to watch for changes (one watches my download folder for additions). I have ClamXav installed and scan suspect files. As secure as we are, the OS is not bullet proof.

I'm not sure anyone here ever says (anymore) that OS X is bullet proof. The thing is, people keep saying "someday you'll know how Windows users feel" but NO ONE is talking about the underlying structure that guarantees at least, that experiences that many viruses will NEVER happen.

OS X doesn't have a friggin' internet browser intwined with it's core OS files! OS X is *not* DOS - which is what Windows is *still* running on top of... there is still a very archaic, non-network-savvy system under every stinkin' Windows machine.

On the Mac side, there's a pretty face on top of a structure that's known networks for YEARS (getting close to talkin' decades).

Bulletproof? No. But going the severe way of Windows? Not unless we strip the *nix core out and replace it with DOS.

I have to disagree. As has been pointed out elsewhere, Windows no longer runs on top of DOS. XP is its own operating system, with more of a relationship to VMS (hint: add one letter on to VMS and what do you get?).

For those people still running Windows ME and prior, you are right - it's DOS in drag. But for everyone else, not so.

Symantec discontinued Norton for Mac, cos nobody wanted it. McAfee see their product going the same way and are useing the tactics of an extortionist to drum up business. I've seen so many reviews that say how shoddy their products are. They even created a malware problem with a recent update.

*nix systems are not perfect. Nothing is unbreakable. But saying that Mac are as bad as the other side is plain irresponsible (and possibly libellous).

_If_ there was a genuine malware problem with Macs, there would be no need for this kind of thing, because we'd all know about it. Not just Macs but the wider *nix community, that includes educational, government and military installations, would install shields just like Windows requires.

And XP is still _based_ on DOS, no matter how much you wish it wasn't, and Vista will be as well. What MS should have done was throw the whole thing away and start fresh, as Apple did in the move to Darwin.

Quote

Guest wrote:
Have you ever used their nag-ware on a PC? It never, ever stops begging you to upgrade, even when you dismiss it's many annoying pleas. McAffee produces beg-ware of the most annoying sort, and I certainly hope they don't infect the Macintosh world with their shady products.

Neither XP nor Vista are based on DOS. DOS is emulated in XP, but it is not the foundation.

Macs have been spared in the past, but the future may be different. So, lets not bury our heads in the sand and have a false sense of security around Macs. Go out and defend yourself because the internet side of your cable/dsl router is full of worms, spam, adware/spyware and much more. The majority of these attacks are driven by greedy people looking to rob you blind if given the opportunity.

McAfee is a well know, respected security company and Stuart McClure, author of Hacking Exposed and in charge of McAfee's R&D, is also well respected in the security world.

Yes, McAfee has a product to sell and the latest Mac research coincided with the release of that new Mac AV product. But think about this for a while, why would McAfee spend development dollars to create a new Mac product if there was not a real need or a market for it.

"Macs have been spared in the past, but the future may be different. So, lets not bury our heads in the sand and have a false sense of security around Macs."

You complete and utter tool. That's the exact same bullshit the anti-virus companies have been pushing since the dawn of OS X.

"You're safe now, but look out! There's disaster on the horizon!"

Uh huh. Sure. And the sun's green.

Macs have been "spared" for the past fives years because OS X has competent software engineering. No matter how much time passes, and no matter how far in the future we find ourselves, and no matter how many people adopt Macs, that competent software engineering won't magically wink out of existence. The secure foundation of OS X won't suddenly dissapear.

With ZERO viruses for OS X and 100,000 for Windows, Mac users have a valid reason to feel very, very secure.

Buy a clue.


"Go out and defend yourself because the internet side of your cable/dsl router is full of worms, spam, adware/spyware and much more."

There IS NO MALWARE FOR OS X, chief.

So what exactly would OS X users be defending themselves from? Nothing.

Boy, you're sure a master of logic, aren't you?


"McAfee is a well know, respected security company and Stuart McClure, author of Hacking Exposed and in charge of McAfee's R&D, is also well respected in the security world."

McAfee are greedy, fear-mongering snake oil salesmen trying to convince Mac users to buy a product for which they have no use whatsoever, except for making sure their Macs don't accidently pass on PC viruses to their Windows-using friends.


"But think about this for a while, why would McAfee spend development dollars to create a new Mac product if there was not a real need or a market for it."

Oh my God, you're dense.

Valid points, guest. But no need to be rude about it.