Want Security? Make The Switch 549
Lord_Slepnir writes "Security firm Sophos Security has released a report claiming that Macs will be more secure than Windows for some time to come. The report listed the 10 most common kinds of malware, and noted that they can only infect Windows systems."
However.... (Score:5, Insightful)
That said, it will be years before OSX overtakes Windows, if it ever does. Still, with OSX's mature tried-and-true UNIX core, I don't see as many problems as with MS's OS.
...Again? (Score:5, Insightful)
malware's not the only problem (Score:5, Insightful)
Maybe the OS-dependent malware is on Windows but not MacOSX, but there are still some serious computer-delivered attacks that don't depend on the operating system. Social exploits like phishing and pay-forward scams still attack the gullible on any platform. Cross-site scripting exploits can still put web services such as PayPal and Amazon at risk. This has little to do with the platform, and I think many MacOSX fans are falsely smug over the whole thing.
Security through... (Score:5, Insightful)
Macs and... (Score:4, Insightful)
Apple fud cake (Score:3, Insightful)
It reads the new updated statistics about the problems of ms windows, and clichés it's way to declaring apple fairly safe.
this article does admit apple has security flaws, but does not extend it beyond that.
In short, the article doesn't do much to bring perspective, or depth to an already longwinded debate.
In my opinion, changing to apple because it's less of a target is comparable security through obscurity.
Real security comes through proper training of administrators and users. Real security does not come with the operating system
User is the problem (Score:4, Insightful)
If a user has permissions to run any program he wants then malware will remain.
In a corporate environment, the users' rights should be such that unknown applications cannot run.
Home users don't have the same protections and must rely on virus checkers and spyware scanning to tell them that "this screensaver your mum sent you is infact a trojan which will send itself out to all your friends".
Windows, Linux, Mac, BSD are all susceptible to users' bad decisions.
(and the critical mass of malicious folks exist in Windows, but that could change quite quickly)
Its the same argument of firefox vs IE (Score:5, Insightful)
Less Targeted = More Secure? (Score:5, Insightful)
*Troll*
-Matt
Re:EffPeee!!! No Surprise Here (Score:5, Insightful)
I think we'll never see mass-migration influenced by arguments like those on the article.
People has been saying that security is THE good argument for switching forever, be it Linux, Solaris, BSD or Mac folks, but this has never been a sufficient argument to fuel the switch.
Maybe what we need is not a system with better security and similar software suit. People will only change when we have a system with better security and SAME software suit (or at least one that has similar interface).
Most users are lazy, and they don't want to learn how to use new interfaces.
Re:However.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Misleading metrics (Score:5, Insightful)
What matters is rate of contact and rate of infection after contact.
A well configured Windows machine, with a good up-to-date virus/spyware scanner and firewall which prevents unauthorized registry changes is pretty hard to actually infect.
I'm sure that "out of the box" Macs are better. But it's not "out of the box" that I care about. My concern is level of security during actual operation.
I have no problem believing that Macs are more resistant to malware, but this measure doesn't show that to necessarily be the case.
obscure != secure (Score:5, Insightful)
Faith in obscurity means you'll be totally unprepared when disaster strikes.
Re:Macs and... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Why Bother? (Score:5, Insightful)
Why would I write a piece of malware that would only target a small segment of the market? If one wanted to further one's nefarious plans wouldn't it be smart to go after the biggest slice of the pie?
That would depend upon your goal, now wouldn't it? For botnets, it is probably too difficult compared to the return to go after OS X boxes, but for other types of malware it makes some sense to add OS X as a secondary vector for a cross-platform worm. If, for example, you're gathering credit card numbers and accounts to online stores, you'll get a better return from OS X boxes than from Windows machines since you eliminate the chunk that is pirated and running in the third world, and basically limit yourself to the wealthy first worlders, and usually even the higher end of that group. You also, unfortunately, are targeting a lot of the security expert crowd, almost guaranteeing early detection of your worm.
If, however, your goal is hactivism or prestige, well the first worm that targets OS X machines and actually propagates significantly in the wild will be big news and generate a lot of press. It is an ideal target, if you can pull it off.
There is plenty of motivation to attack OS X boxes, but the difficulty of doing so, due to more reasonable security and architectural choices and because the skillset of malware authors is usually very Window's platform specific has played a big part in making sure that it has not yet been a concern.
Re:10 most "common" kinds? (Score:5, Insightful)
I love my mac too (all four of them). There is a bit more to it than that. A large part is the predominant number of windows. To effectively spread, a virus must have reasonable access to new hosts to infect. Also, the harder it is to infect, the more hosts the virus must have access to in order to spread. The concentration of macs is low enough that this significantly inhibits the ability of viruses to propogate.
But there are also other issues. The article notes that email virus have become the most predominant malware. Certain email client programs are much more suceptable to these viruses that others. A large number of Windows users switching email clients would reduce the number of viruses significantly. I can tell everytime a new virus comes out, I suddenly see
That's not what the article says (Score:5, Insightful)
However, the BBC article linked to says:
Kinds of malware means categories - eg trojans, viruses, etc. That's absolutely not what the BBC article says.
Re:EffPeee!!! No Surprise Here (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:EffPeee!!! No Surprise Here (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:However.... (Score:5, Insightful)
And how will that help? If a user is willing to click to run untrusted programs, he is willing to type a password to do so. This will only help in cases where a user does not have the priviledge to install programs (which the OP explicitly discounted by saying "and has the right to install programs").
The same was for Firefox... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:However.... (Score:3, Insightful)
True... (Score:4, Insightful)
Stupid people, the biggest security hole (Score:2, Insightful)
A nice "enter your root password to do this" prompt will not prevent stupid people from running malware on a Mac, especially if the malware says "enter your system password to install in secure mode" or something similar. Just because a system is inherently more secure does not mean stupid people can't screw it up.
With all the press about "Macs don't get viruses", your average user is likely to get a false sense of security when running things and might be more likely to try and run everything they run across, since it can't possibly do anything bad since they have a Mac.
Re:EffPeee!!! No Surprise Here (Score:5, Insightful)
Therefore, articles like this will only encourage switching in that section of users who understand the differences (and even then it might not succeed). Which, in my experience, is a tiny fraction of the general computer-using population.
Re:Where's the "duh" button when you need it? (Score:3, Insightful)
So that is why so many people tried to rob Fort Knox.
Re:EffPeee!!! No Surprise Here (Score:5, Insightful)
It has never been about what is easier or better, or even cheaper really... Remember, the reason Windows won was that everyone already had service contracts with IBM, so DOS won (in large businesses with IBM mainframes). Then they already had contracts with Microsoft, so they won. There really is not much more too it.
Re:However.... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:EffPeee!!! No Surprise Here (Score:5, Insightful)
When buying a new computer most consumer want to re-use some of their software (games, financial programs (e.g., Quicken, MS Money, and maybe productivity software). Even if the Mac has an equivalent program, the added expense of re-buying stuff that you already own pushes up the mac cost. Also, many large companies have licenses that allow for home use of MS Office suite... on the Mac this will add another $100 to the cost.
Consumers may also want to recycle their existing printer, scanner, camera and may be concerned (rightly or wrongly) that it willn't work with the Mac.
Finally, there is a learning curve with the Mac...things work differently... maybe better, but different.
Re:Apple fud cake (Score:3, Insightful)
Real security starts with the OS vendor, not with users. MS has delegated the work of securing their OS to the end users (and it's an impossible to task to boot). I refuse to spend my time doing their work them...
Re:Misleading metrics (Score:5, Insightful)
That said, this only addresses number of viruses, not level of security, making this a dumb study. Yes, I own a Mac, and will be buying another.
Mac Security Isn't Technical (Score:5, Insightful)
I've come to the conclusion that the biggest reason for why the Mac is a more secure platform isn't because of technology, but because the Mac userbase tends to be a lot more savvy than the Windows userbase.
I'd hazard a guess that the vast majority of Windows malware comes not from the inherent insecurity of the Windows platform but from users doing dumb things. Someone who installs some stupid little weather applet and gets infected with spyware got infected not because of a flaw in the system, but because they didn't bother to determine whether or not the source of their software was credible or not. Even if they got a prompt like Vista and OS X present they'll still authorize the program. There's no patch that can be applied to a system to prevent stupid users from mucking it up.
John Gruber wrote a really astute article on why Macs don't have the level of malware that one would think they would [daringfireball.net]. If Apple has roughlt 5% marketshare, why isn't 5% of the total malware population targeting Macs? I think he's right when he notes:
Macs are more secure because Mac users have a much tougher stance towards crapware. Mac users tend to be much more technically proficient than the average. If that "zero-tolerance" policy changes, I'm not so sure we'll see an increase in the amount of malware targeting Macs.
OS X does a great job of providing technical barriers against malware, but nothing can prevent malware that uses social engineering to do its work. Mac users are safer because they choose to be - but if you get a group of users who have no awareness of security and will blindly execute anything they come across, even if the system specifically tells them not to, that could change very quickly.
Re:EffPeee!!! No Surprise Here (Score:3, Insightful)
What do you mean "surely not"? Can I run City of Heroes/Villains or DDO natively on an Apple machine IN OS/X (NOT in Windows dual-booted, and NOT in VirtualPC/VMWare/Other Emulation Software)?
Yes, these are games however there are MANY other people out there with OTHER requirements for which there simply isn't another option as far as the OS goes.
If things have continued in the computer retail space (from the time I was involved in it), the salesmen push whatever they have the most 'training' on. When I worked for Best Buy in the late '90's, that training was limited, and I don't recall it ever involving anything Apple related. Those machines sat on the shelf and sold only when a customer came in that already knew they wanted said hardware. I have a feeling that was one of the reasons the space was eventually re-purposed.
Re:However.... (Score:3, Insightful)
People are not installing "Malware.exe" they are installing "SuperSmiley.exe", "NudeBritneySpearScreensaver" or "WindowsKernel_1337_Accelerator.exe" They will do whatever it takes to install them, including entering the appropriate credentials.
The real security problem is social.
Even if a system becomes very safe ( call back Apple every time you need to install a program. Store your data on Apple site only, and no execution of any kind of not-approve tech including scripts ) There will still be people going on fishing websites and people giving their pin number to HornyHotChick on IM.
It takes litteraly years to teach simple concept to people. (condom, car belts,
Not saying that it is not a good thing to move to OSX: OSX is much harder to 'break' and has a much lower user base, so less incentive, so you should be safe even if you don't know why and are pissed that only your friends have the funky smileys.
Re:EffPeee!!! No Surprise Here (Score:3, Insightful)
Had you considered the possibility that we might actually prefer Windows, or even think it's better?
I'm perfectly serious here. I'm not clueless or an idiot; I probably know more about computers than most people here. I've used Macs and various Linices extensively, and I consider myself skilled with both. But I still use Windows for my primary computer, because I just happen to find it a pleasanter environment. I can get stuff done faster in Windows. It does what I want, the way I want to do it. That's why.
Why not use Linux? Because Linux GUIs have always struck me as clunky and fragile, and there's no useful Linux software that I can't run either in Cygwin or remotely over an ssh tunnel to a Debian system. Meanwhile, much of the software I do need -- notably professional graphics applications -- is not available for Linux at all. (GIMP and Inkscape are fine for web design, but they don't even try to do print.)
Why not use a Mac? Primarily because I don't see any point in paying extra for a proprietary and incompatible system that doesn't offer me anything significant over a PC. Also, the Mac interface is an abomination. A hodgepodge of totally different (but equally hideous) skins, blurry fonts, and whizz-bang effects that do nothing but slow down any attempt at serious work. And the dock? Seriously, what were they smoking? I've seen hardened Apple fanatics break down in tears because they can't figure out how the dock is supposed to work. Apple stopped doing intuitive when they retired OS 9. I'm surprised more people haven't noticed yet.
And what about security? I'm not worried. A hardware firewall, coupled with basic precautions like not using IE, not opening random email attachments, and not browsing Russian porn/warez sites, keeps me perfectly secure. I haven't been hit by a single virus, worm, or piece of spyware in my entire life, and I see no reason to suppose that's about to change.
So that's why my next computer will be another Windows PC. Sorry if my failure to subscribe to Slashdot groupthink offends you.
Re:Why Bother? (Score:4, Insightful)
If you say "a lot of security people use macs" and are not implying that Mac users are generally more secure because of it, then the statement might as well say "a lot of security people use Windows PCs." Because, a lot of "security people" use windows. I would wager a guess there are significantly MORE "security people" that use Windows than OSX.
When a worm is propagating, every propagation exposes it to potential detection. If malware hits my box and my IDS notices an anomalous outgoing communication that does not match my normal pattern, I'm going to look into it and find out what happened. Suddenly the malware is exposed to the security community.
The vast majority of the time, a worm hits a non-expert's machine and is not detected. For simplicity's sake, lets say there are 100,000 users in some network. 80,000 are using Windows. 4,000 are using OS X. 16,000 are using other OS's. Say there are 500 security experts in this group. 250 are using macs, 150 are using alternative OS's and 100 are using Windows (based upon the attendees of security conferences this is being overly generous to Windows by a lot).
You write a Windows worm. Every propagation it has a 1 in 800 chance of being detected. You'll probably net 400 machines for your botnet before anyone is even investigating and a lot more before anyone gets around to writing a signature.
Suppose you write a OS X only virus. Every propagation has a 1 in 16 chance of being detected. You'll probably net about 8 machines before someone is investigating. The investigation will likely go faster as there is a lot more interest in a mac worm than a Windows worm, due to the novelty. The propagation will likely be slower due to the scarcity of targets (only 1 in 25 targets is viable).
Suppose you write a cross-platform Mac/Windows worm. Every propagation has a 1 in 240 chance of being detected. You'll probably net a 120 before the investigation starts.
Because the percentage of security people who use OS X is so much greater than the percentage that use Windows, an OS X worm faces a much harder "market" for propagation and is likely to be detected while many fewer hosts have been compromised. This has been demonstrated in the real world as well, with the case of the dropper trojan on a mac forum. Do you understand now?
Education is the solution ... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:EffPeee!!! No Surprise Here (Score:5, Insightful)
Well... We'd better not tell them about the Windows/Office Vista menu changes then.
Re:So what you're saying is... (Score:3, Insightful)
But personally, I have to say I find Linux more convenient, because you get a complete, ready-to-go desktop with all your applications and settings nicely pre-configured, right out of the box
We were actually trying to figure this out at work. We get our choice of machines and OS's. The estimate right now is it takes the average Linux install and config about 4 business days to get everything they need installed and configured and working with all our resources. It takes the average Windows user 3 days (but these are mostly managerial types). It takes the average OS X user about 3 days as well, so it is winning for engineers, but not by much. For upgrades, however, it wins hands down. There is nothing quite as easy in the Linux world (that I've seen) as the install as an upgrade option. You boot the old machine while holding down a key, plug a firewire cable to the new machine, and click a button. It maxes out the hard drive write speed and you don't even have to tell it what files/configurations/etc. to copy. As a Linux distro maintainer I implore you, steal this feature.
But if I'm not mistaken, by your own argument that's too many choices
Touche. I don't really count Windows as a choice, as it is more of a default. My only thought is that we all have to help others make the right choice (yeah pigs flying applies here too). You make a good point.
Re:EffPeee!!! No Surprise Here (Score:5, Insightful)
For me... it's all about "free" in both senses of the word. I exclusively use Linux at home for everything. There are tons of applications that do everything I need. Since I don't need to go to print with my graphic work, GIMP works fine for me. As does GIMPrint for printing out family photos and the like. When it comes to the professional audio and video work I do, GIMP is leaps and bounds ahead of what the Windows platform provides and way cheaper than most decent Mac solutions. The amount of time spent getting mys systems configured (from source typically as I despise pre-packaged software) is not any greater than the amount of time I spent tweaking my Windows systems when I used that OS in the past. This is because for many of us, we like to get every ounce of performance out of our hardware and no matter what OS or platform we're on, we're going to investigate EVERY option all the way down to the code itself. Linux is not hard and the GUIs are much more polished and feature filled than anything that the Windows platform offers. But yes, you do have to spend some time learning the new approaches. I did and it was worth every second.
It still an argument that's stupid and pointless though. It's not about "Good OS" vs. "Bad OS". It's about a "Good for Me OS" vs. a Bad for Me OS". For me, Windows is too limiting and far too expensive when you factor in how much you have to spend on extra apps to actually make it useful. For you the GUI options on Linux didn't suit you, likely due to the learning curve and possibly due to the time you tried it (Development is moving fast and both GNOME and KDE are far better than the Explorer interface in my opinion). Linux also failed you in that you probably aren't the kind of person who likes to work all the way down to the metal to get the most out of your machine (again, not an insult just a basic fact based on what you posted. I don't know, so I can't say 100% that this is true. You might have the
1. I used Windows all the way from DOS/Win3.1 to XP and I only got hit with one exploit through a stupid move (putting my XP laptop directly on a DSL link in an emergency with no firewall at all Pre-SP2). I found that putting my Windows boxes behind a decent firewall (typically linux based) stopped a whole host of problems. Even without EVER using any antivirus software (I simply avoided Internet Explorer and any version of Outlook).
2. Nearly every Linux distro I've used has come with everything I've needed at a basic level and the only extras I ever install are typically because of my interests in the rarer fields of computing. Linux is certainly more complete when compared to Mac or Windows, but that's only if you're willing to put the time into learning it.
So there you have it. I hope you can see the wisdom in this piece and take no offense as none was meant.
Re:EffPeee!!! No Surprise Here (Score:3, Insightful)
$499 isn't that exspensive compared to other products (car stereo, console gaming, tvs and so on) and chances are the average Joe just buys a computer based off what his kids, family members, or the store clerk tells him to.
From my experience, people who buy macs as their first computer did it because of family members that already had macs or they use macs at their college or work. But I've seen plenty of switchers of people who were fed up with spyware and other issues.
Windows is secure enough, user behavior isn't.. (Score:3, Insightful)
What really matters to Joe Buyer (Score:2, Insightful)
A) availability: Most retailers don't carry Macs. Especially now that Apple has its own retail stores. Apple is now a competitor. And Apple has very strict limits on what prices 3rd party vendors can sell their computers for. That's why you never see a (new) Mac sold anywhere for more $5 less than Apple's own price.
B) price: You pay more for the Apple name. Yes, you also pay more because the cost of the PC is partially subsidized by promotional software, some of which may or may not be useful. In any event, for $500, which would you want? A Mac mini that doesn't even come with a DVD burner, keyboard, mouse, or monitor? Or would you rather have an Athlon64-based system with a DVD burner, keyboard, mouse, and everything you need and probably even a 15"-17" LCD monitor thrown in?
C) compatibility: You can't even buy a printer that doesn't work with Windows. It's not hard to find one that doesn't work with Mac. It's nice to know that whatever you buy will just work. Printers are a big problem here in that some printer drivers only work with certain point releases of Mac OS X. Others work, but are 10 times slower than on Windows (I offer up my Brother MFC-3820CN as proof of this). And multifunctions/all-in-ones may not have all functionality available on Mac.
D) upgradeability: Unless you're talking about a PowerMac G5, Macs have no internal expandability. What are you supposed to do if your computing needs change? Pay Apple to do the upgrade for you? You can't even install memory in a Mac mini without special expertise! Forget about upgrading an optical drive or a hard drive. How about upgrading the onboard video to something more current? Not even a remote possibility in a Mac because there are no expansion slots!
E) people like freedom: With a PC, you have your choice of manufacturer, a greater choice of options (both BTO and aftermarket), and the knowledge that you probably know someone who is good with PCs. And if you don't, any computer place (other than the Apple Store, naturally) can service it for you.
Consumers aren't dumb. Don't let your anti-Microsoft bias get in the way of seeing that PCs have very real practical advantages over Macs. I gather a lot of people will have the experience (as my wife and I did) of buying into the Mac hype only to go back to PCs and never look back. Unless you specifically need a Mac, I'd say in almost all cases, you're better off with a PC. Think about all the copycat iMacs that were around a few years ago.. the eOne, the Gateway Profile... People don't spend $500+ lightly. They want the piece of mind of knowing that their purchase is going to be upgradeable (in other words, not obsolete in two years) and that they are not going to be limited in buying peripherals in the future (Joe User doesn't want to have to read box labels to see which versions of Mac OS X his new all-in-one printer is compatible with).
Re:Whatever... same with Windows (Score:3, Insightful)
Now every frickin time I want to run some executable I have to click "Yeah, ok, fine, do it".
Providing a dialogue that is a confirmation, not a choice is a usability and security flaw. OS X does not do this. What is does is when you run a program for the first time, it tells you it is a program and then asks if you want to run that program or not run that program. You are not given the option of clicking "ok" like on Windows, which with a ridiculous number of said, useless dialogues trains everyone to reflexively click "ok."
Do you think I read the stupid dialogs?
You have no choice in this case. You have read the button names to know what you're picking or click randomly. Since the button names are actions, reading them gives you enough info to make a choice.
Confirmation prompts are not security.
Security is telling the user what is happening and letting them do what they want, but not what they don't want. In this case, the user is informed something is a program and not data. They are then asked if they want to run the program or not. This stops the program masquerading as data (nudepics.jpg.exe) problem. It works too.
Chuckle (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:EffPeee!!! No Surprise Here (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:...Again? (Score:4, Insightful)
The majority of security related incidents are not due to the infamous and dreaded "determined cracker". They are due to "script kiddies" - people who don't have the skills required. Security is not an absolute, it is a relative scale. Most of the people dropping shots on MS OSes are those who ony do it because it is easy. They then go brag to their equally skill-free friends about their supposed 'leetness.
Thus the intent of security is to raise the bar, the barrier to entry if you will, on what it takes to "get in". If an OS makes it more difficult to break in, more tedious to do it, then you will decrease your risk by driving off the lesser "skilled", regardless of the size of the target.
Consider transporting large amounts of cash and other valuables. Armored cars can be "cracked" by sufficiently determined theives. Yet we don't see banks transporting their cash by unescorted, unarmored car. Again, it is a matter of raising the bar. Do you lock your car or house? Why? A sufficiently determined thief will easily bypass your lock. But just as with OS level security, bank security, etc. you weed out the "petty" or "lesser" thieves/crackers. This reduces your risk and reduces your response work.
So IF OSX raises the bar, then it is a good thing regardless of the size of the target on it's back. Anything short of recognizing this is short sighted and missing the picture.
So GundamFan, do tell: Do you lock your vehicle? Do you lock the doors of your house? Do you store your money in a bank? Do you hide your valuale or use a safe? Why bother, since "where there is a will, there is a way"?
JAB FUD (Score:4, Insightful)
I agree with the first part of your final line - "Real security comes through proper training of administrators and users." But the operating system is an integral part of that. Ever used any trusted platform? (a real one, like trusted solaris or hpux) There's some os-down security enforcement!
All security decisions are a compromise between usability and security. All of them. I can make my windows boxen 99.999% secure by unplugging them from the network and controlling all physical access. But in the real world, a useful system is attached to a network, and the OS is a vital part of that security arrangement.
Anyone who truly believes that *nix isn't attacked constantly, or for that matter, by very high-level attackers, is too limited in experience and not in a position to have reality impinge upon his or her preconceptions. Watch the firewalls protecting any *nix network - say at a bank - and then tell me that there just aren't that many attacks on *nix. Or - try this... run up your linux box, rename your root user to something else, and create an unprivileged user named root. Then log in to any IRC server that will let you, join #linux, and watch your firewall go stupid as script kiddies and various other bored hackers try and 'pwn' your system. The reason there aren't many worms for *nix at all is mostly because the security model makes it extremely difficult to build a useful worm/virus, and it's likely to stay that way.
Re:Here here! (Score:3, Insightful)
I don't buy "osx is safe because no one uses it" (Score:5, Insightful)
Most hackers don't need a huge number of installs to stroke their ego. The opportunity to prove that OS X is just as vulnerable as Windows should be more than enough to motivate someone to release an OS X virus into the wild. Yet no one has done it.
There must be more at work here than OS X's small market share. OS X must be inherently more secure than Windows to not have a virus in the wild six years after its release. Certainly there are enough hackers out there who would love to show their prowess by writing an OS X virus, even for the relatively small number of OS X installs that exist; but nobody has been able to do it yet.
Re:EffPeee!!! No Surprise Here (Score:2, Insightful)
linux isn't safer merely because it's a "smaller" target. the development model and worldwide peer review make the code qualitatively better than windows' proprietary code.
Re:EffPeee!!! No Surprise Here (Score:3, Insightful)
And FWIW, that computers are being used primarily for business isn't an assumption, it's a fact. Second behind that is viewing porn (the distribution of porn largely falling under the business side of things) :P. I wish they were used primarily for spreading world peace and ending hunger, but that just isn't so.
Re:EffPeee!!! No Surprise Here (Score:3, Insightful)
I'll tell you the three reasons this "lazy" user has stuck to a Windows/AMD box (you acknowledge the first one):
Just one geek's opinion.
-Eric
Secure upgrade to Windows XP is MacOSX Leopard (Score:2, Insightful)
---You get more security, etc, and you will get your next cool OS upgrade 1-2 years later instead of 5. (And you get to wear black turtle necks and jeans)
And if Apple did something like put a firewall around the Windows instead, and not let it make internet connections except with user warning first, and you did all of your surfing and email in Apple land, wouldn't that be just fine?
You get your windows XP apps running at ~ full speed, and you get your new OS, and you get security.
How does Vista compete with that? Apple would have the same compatibility with XP apps (maybe more, XP would be running natively on the Leopard system, vista is a new version of the OS, and might have compatibility issues) Apple could even throw in an upgrade sticker kicker to make it even more cost competitive. Like if you show proof of purchase of XP you get an upgrade discount buying the Apple hardware.
As a bonus you get iLife with the Mac: http://www.apple.com/ilife/ [apple.com], which could be better than most if not all of what is available on Windows for entry level photo/music/iPod Casting/Movie making, etc, and is FREE. You can always turn the mac into a beautiful windows Vista only machine later if you desire, so there is no Vendor lock in on stuff. You are basically trading the cost of the (Apple machine + Free iLife + MacOSX Tiger/Leopard + Free More Security) vs (new Vista Machine+Vista+Security headaches). To me this is the reason why the Mac argument works vs. the other OS choices, and in addition you have most of the important software Mac Native as well, so you can wean yourself off of Windows versions of other stuff at your convenience, trading increasing vendor dependency for more Mac native stuff (some people think that stuff is better, Ill leave that to you to make up your own mind).
Re:EffPeee!!! No Surprise Here (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Answer to your question - Yes, it'll run 100% (Score:4, Insightful)
Oh, I dunno... maybe to avoid viruses, spyware, adware, hackers, and gain ease of use, more control, real security, better user experience, included high-quality development tools, a real OS built on Mach Unix where you can drop to a terminal and get real work done, etc.? That's up for you to decide. Like I said, it's about choices.
But hey, it's pretty clear from your attitude that no answer is going to be acceptable. You want a Windows box and nothing but Windows is acceptable. That's okay... just say so. (Though I suppose that would make you a fanboy, wouldn't it?) Nobody's forcing you to switch. You asked if something was possible without emulation, I told you it was and now that answer's not good enough. Just as I predicted.
Settle down, Beavis. The "product plug" and mention of Bootcamp was part of my attempt to provide a complete answer. Had I not stated it, I suspect you would have criticized me for giving an incomplete answer. Besides, you said no emulation ("...NOT in VirtualPC/VMWare/Other Emulation Software...") but you didn't mention virtualization. Virtualization is not emulation, do you even understand the difference? You should, since it is significant.
Now run along and play your little hero game on Windows.
Re: Overrated (Score:3, Insightful)
KeS
I predict a retraction... (Score:2, Insightful)
I predict that within a week or so Sophos will follow-up this report with a "clarification" saying that they didn't actually mean it, that Microsoft Windows is a secure operating system when properly configured, etc., etc. The language will be such that anyone with an ounce of sense will realize that Microsoft has tightened the thumbscrews on them and essentially forced a retraction.
--Stuart
Re:EffPeee!!! No Surprise Here (Score:3, Insightful)
They won't know, and they'll buy a PC anyway.
People buy all sorts of shit they don't need. It's fueled the home computer industry for years.
They end up using them mostly for games, when a console machine would be better from the standpoint of reliability and ease of use.
Re:Answer to your question - Yes, it'll run 100% (Score:3, Insightful)
Geez for all I care you can run windows all day long on it
Why yes, you could run games and applications on Windows, and not bother at all with dual booting into an OS that's not up to the job... that was my point.
but then when the opportunity to do some real work does come up, you have choice whether to work in OS X or Windows. Where's the downside to that? Especially considering for comparable hardware, it would cost you the same.
Using some applications some of the time, and other applications on another OS has its own set of problems - for example, email and other data being stored in different formats, or logs being split across two programs. Not to mention if I'm doing something more serious, in terms of expense (buying two sets of applications), and time and hassle spent learning two sets of applications. And with things like software development, that's a lot less likely to be an option at all.
And you still revert back to the problem here - even if I'm doing some "real work", I might want to take a quick 5 minute breather doing something else, and I do not expect to have to shut everything, reboot, then later reboot again, and have to reopen everything. That is unacceptable.
Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with dual booting for novelty value or for rare occasions when you might need to use another OS. What gets me is people who seem to think that continually rebooting into another OS as part of your necessary day-to-day usage is seen as an acceptable solution. It's not.
I know the hassles with multi-booting because I've done it before. E.g., I once had Windows, BeOS and Linux installed, but I wouldn't advocate this by saying things like "Look, BeOS lets you run Windows and Linux applications too!"
Re:Whatever... same with Windows (Score:5, Insightful)
Umm, obviously you're just looking for some way to criticize Microsoft without actually knowing what you are talking about. Whether it says 'OK' or 'RUN', a dialog is a dialog. The fact is, people don't read them after they've popped up a handful of times.
Read a book on interface design. Most all of them will cover the "ok/cancel mistake." It is classic operant conditioning. By providing the same two buttons over and over again, buttons that are not actions, and by not providing the user with the means to make a good decision, users are conditioned to always click "OK." If, however, users are provided with buttons that are actions and which are pertinent to the question asked the response is very different. On Windows users reflexively click the "OK" button that is always there and which is always in the same place and which means "keep working" to the average user. On other systems the user can't just click the same button in the same place, because they are not given that option. Instead they see the buttons, "don't run the program" and "run the program." Simply be reading these buttons the user is made aware that it is a program about to be run and not a picture about to be opened. It takes them a half a second and they have to think. At this point users that know what they want click and those that don't pause, and most read the dialogue box looking for help.
This has been demonstrated time and again in usability studies and human/computer interaction experiments. The key is having different choices for different situation, using actions as button names, providing regular English in the dialogue messages, and providing reasonable choices. Windows does a terrible job of this and even after moving to another system, some users (but not most) take a little while to break conditioning and not just click on a random option all the time. Many other OS's and applications have varying levels of success with their implementation of this concept. OS X is one of the better ones, although far from perfect.
Please, if you are going to comment and sound credible, at least know what you are talking about.
I've studied UI design both formally and informally for years. I've read quite a few good books, and reviewed quite a few experiments. I've attended conferences and conducted usability testing. Using Google you should not have too much trouble finding information on this concept. UI design is part engineering and part psychology, but it is a maturing field. Windows is a poster child for what not to do in this case (although they do manage some other good UI design here and there in Windows). The fact is, people do read dialogue buttons and boxes as is appropriate, if they are presented with the proper frequency and in the correct way, instead of in the terribly broken way Windows has implemented them.