I’ve used Macs and PCs both pretty heavily over the years and I find the idea that eventually someone won’t write something malicious against Macs or that Macs are somehow immune to bad code kind of funny. I admit though, people are probably more likely to write something to infect Ipods and Iphones than worry about Mac users specifically.

Bottom line? There hasn’t been a computer made ever that I couldn’t find a way to crash for reboot. I could get my old Atari consoles to freeze up without much effort.

Besides, Macs are already running that viral mind control stuff in the background.

Been a Mac all my computer life, but ever since they switched over to Intel, I’ve been worried.

My first Mac, a PowerMac 8100/80 I had for 13 years, before I finally decided to spring for an iMac.

Just got this from a friend charged with virus protection at work: Apple takes down antivirus note.

Which is just plain screwy.

Last_Hussar -
So Mac is better- I’m just an idiot.

Security-nut friends of mine tell me that the Mac is better, but is not bulletproof.  Some of the links in the article I posted above say essentially that as well.

Same could probably be said of Linux.

So Mac isn’t better- just insignificant.

For that matter, you’re probably pretty safe picking up strangers in the US in bars and having sex with them. Probably.

I imagine there’s a lot of folks who feel the same way. Chances are good you can go a few more years without using anti-virus software. If that’s a risk you’re willing to take then good luck.

I haven’t used or needed antivirus software in the last 10 years of using Macs, I’m not about to start any time soon.

It’s not just an issue of viruses anymore. Fake codecs which the user installs thanks to social engineering are one of the primary causes of infection these days. Doesn’t matter how bulletproof the OS is if the user can be tricked into installing the malware. Mac users are just as vulnerable to that attack vector as any Windows user.

Basically it comes down to the same thing it always has. If you don’t download suspicious content you don’t have to worry about viruses. The only ones I have every gotten were from P2P downloading period.

So it’s really a message of, just take the simple step to protect yourself and then you don’t need to worry.

Personally I find the argument of “I don’t need antivirus on my system” to be a little silly. Why gloat about the fact you are opening yourself up to security holes? Unless you are using BSD as an OS you don’t really have a claim to make on security.