I have used Windows, through various jobs, since about 1989; so it is not through lack of experience that I revile Windows as much as I do.

And if you don't particularly like OS X's GUI, take a trip to the most-excellent Terminal app; where you will find your old POSIX friends there waiting, man pages outstretched, ready to do your bidding. You can even load an officially-sanctioned X11 up and use one of those god-forsaken Linux GUIs, like KDE, if you wish! ;-)

First off, I am a fan, not a fanboy. Second, I never moved the goalposts. I merely set them, by excluding the NON-virus category "Trojan". And Apple has done about as much as anyone can expect to guard against that, too, with Gatekeeper, the Mac App Store, XProtect, disabled root login, etc.

And so far, they don't. At least not by any generally agreed-upon definition of "virus".

That isn't "moving the goalposts"; that is simply using the term "virus" (as in computer virus) in the agreed-upon manner. Words matter. Definitions matter. Get over it.

Hairyfeet: All I was trying to avoid by using the "Self-Replicating" criteria was the mention of Trojans, which any sane person would agree are a problem for any OS that allows users to install software (i.e., all OSes, including (but not limited to) OS X, Linux and Windows). At least OS X (and now Windows) makes it pretty hard to install stuff as root (Administrator in Windows); but I also understand that that is cold-comfort to the USER who has unwittingly installed malware under their own Account.

MacDefender, MacGuardian, FBI Bug, you name it, they are ALL Trojans. But even by those standards, Wikipedia only lists SEVEN OS X "malwares".

So, essentially, compared with Windows, and even Linux (which has a miniscule marketshare compared with OS X), Macs do not get viruses. Maybe Windows doesn't now, either. But nearly everyone on Slashdot agrees, Trojans aren't viruses, per se. And since OS X has a modicum of "AV" code and anti-malware measures built-in, the need to install cycle-stealing AV packages still seems very minimal.

Do you REALLY have to ask that?

Really?

You're so full of shit it must be running out your mouth.

Unibody MacBooks are REALLY easy to open. Remove 10 phillips screws on the bottom-pan and, er, that's it. Replacing the HDD does NOT void the warranty on a Mac mini, unless you are stupid and drop a screw in it and then turn it on or something equally dense. The SSD in the 2015 Retina MacBook Pro is also right in view once you take off the bottom-pan, and is on a plug-in connector. Good luck finding an aftermarket replacement for their PCIe SSD, though.

I'm not sure what you are blathering about "ESD Damage" for, though. If you pet your pussy (cat) while working on the inside of your computer, no matter the brand, you are likely to have an unfavorable outcome.

You need to update your personal Knowledge Base. MacBooks have been very EASY to open since the Unibody case (what is that, like nearly 10 years now???). The only thing difficult to replace on a Mac laptop nowadays is the Keyboard, funnily-enough.

It would be absolute pud for Apple to put a user-accessible pushbutton on the Mobo of a Unibody MacBook. Ten #00 Phillips screws and you're in. If the pushbutton was on the mobo side closest to the bottom-pan, it would be instantly accessible. Kind of like they used to do for the PMC/SMC Reset on older Macs.

And yet, they just keep growing and growing; and the number of Macs in the workplace keeps growing and growing.

So, you had better adjust your thinking buddy-o; before you find yourself on the outside, looking in...

99.99999999999999999999999999999999% of those people are ex-Windows "Switchers"; who simply CANNOT believe that a computer system doesn't need sixteen-factors of malware protection.

Sorry. The ONLY reason why those companies are providing those AV products is to serve the perenially-paranoid.

I'm not saying that Macs CANNOT get viruses; but in over a DECADE of OS X, they just haven't. Period.

How are there mail accounts being hijacked? Because, seriously, I have never heard of a problem with that using OS X Mail.app.

I have been using Macs since they were Lisas, and OS X since the DP4 Public Beta, and have never heard of a Mac having a "hijacked" email,

Nothing stops someone from reselling your email address into slavery; but seriously, I have never heard of Macs being unwitting members in a Botnet, etc.

So, what exactly do you mean by "mailaccounts [sic] hijacked"? Citation, please.

You're probably right; I am drawn kicking-and-screaming into using Windows for my day-job as an Application Dev., and so tend to bitch about Windows stuff instead of finding out whether I can make it better.

But I never said my W7 install wasn't rock-solid; in fact, it's the first version of Windows I can actually live with.

But I still like OS X better. LOTS better. But that's another thread...

I could; but then I might actually miss-out on a TRULY "critical" update.

Yeah, I HATE that, too! I shuttle my work laptop back and forth from home every day, and it is MOST inconvenient to have that Update notice come up when I am trying to shutdown and go home!

I think MS still thinks that everyone still has a desktop computer, and that it's no problem to just "leave it on" and go home.

So instead, I get to wait while it does a System Restore Point (the majority of the time it takes), then do the install and Reboot (goodbye 30-45 minutes), or "suicide" my laptop by holding the power button, then, the next time I Startup, suffer the bitching and moaning about "Windows was not shut down properly", and then the "Windows needs to Restart" (which pops up when it pleases, and simply HAPPENS if you aren't there to DEFER it, then ANOTHER Reboot (which results in ANOTHER 1/2 hour of virus-scanning), right in the middle of the workday.

OTOH, my OS X laptop does all the downloading of the update in the background, then pops up a Notification to say "Restart to apply the Updates". When *I* deign to Restart, it may spend an additional 30 seconds or so in the grey-screen bootup phase (I assume "applying" the Update) before the Desktop appears (and, unlike Windows, it is "my turn" on OS X after about 10 seconds once the Desktop appears) ... and THAT'S IT.

First off, this is a FREE upgrade; so MS isn't directly benefitting (yet) monetarily from having users upgrade to W10.

Second, when Apple upgraded from Mavericks (10.9) to Yosemite (10.10) (also for Free), I had to beat the "Upgrade" Notifications off with a stick. I can't remember if I finally got annoyed enough to set them to stop (at least you CAN), or if it finally gave up; but there for awhile, it would pop-up a Notification Bubble every 10 minutes or so, telling me "Updates are Available"...

So, I am sad to report that Upgrade-Nagging is unfortunately NOT the exclusive province of Windows, sorry.

And Apple has been doing such a bad job of patching that there hasn't been a serious, self-replicating exploit in the wild for OS X in, well, ever.

Thankyouverymuch! I'll be here all week.

Don't forget to tip your bartenders and waitresses...

But seriously, it does make me feel a little bit like we're living in the "Idiocracy"-universe to think that this obvious of errors actually made it into the original design, let alone off the launch pad.

I read up a little on this, and supposedly, there IS a hardware watchdog timer; but the timeout appears to have been set to either 30 or 45 DAYS (WTF?!?); so half the mission will be over before they even get a CHANCE at a hardware Reset. But, since the frickin' log file may have already written over critical parts of the OS, it may be a very moot point.

As for the log file debacle, they explain that they had a fix ready to upload "on the next pass"; but that is when the bird fell silent. Ok, whatever. NASA has to upload code in-flight, too. But I can't understand why there even IS a log file in the first place. Who is going to read it? If they are transmitting "beacons" every 15 seconds (WAY too often IMHO), then they should have simply transmitted the last "n" records of the log file at that time, and then wiped that buffer clean, rather than keeping a log FILE, FFS!!!

But unfortunately for "Dr" Bill Nye and friends, that's all hindsight now.