I have recently cleaned up the PCs of some of my neighbours. They were running XP and the amount of crap on them was horrifying. Worms, Spyware, Trojans etc.

One I should of reinstalled completely, it would of been much quicker. What are people doing to get so much rubbish on there Pcs. I find it quite worrying.

A few useful online tools exists, but what I don't like is that they all work using ActiveX. I suppose they have to as ActiveX is probably the only thing lax enough from a security point of view to allow you the FS access necessary.

For those looking I can recommend :

SpyBot S&D (Free)
XoftSpy (Scan is free, then u have to pay)
BHO Daemon (Free)
HijackThis (registry reporting tool)

Pandasoft had an interesting online virus tool BUT VBX and they can access your entire PC.

I am considering getting a Mini Mac. What will stop me rushing off to the shop though is that 10.4 of OS X is out in March/April.

I think that in Marketing terms Mac should offer a free upgrade to people who make purchases now, otherwise I imagine many people like myself will sit and wait, watch and see.

They risk losing impulse buyers ( like myself ) when in the clear light of dawn they realise they don't need a 4th computer, even if it is a nice cool, quiet Mac.

At best there 1st quarter sales will underperform and they will have to wait for 2nd quarter for the extra cash.

I especially think this is crucial as the Mini mac needs some momentum to get it off and running.