Original post:
“Ok, they said TARGET! Do I have to explain that term for you, or has that cutsie tootsie GUI of O/S X fried your brain too much? Its a target because of the all the hype its receiving as being “safe”. The honest fact that if its connected to the net, its not safe. Period. Yes, there are more viruses for MS software, yes there are virtually no spyware/adware/viruses for Mac’s. Hello…. do we have to go over this again? Why in the world would someone take the time to write a virus that will infect maybe 4% of the total pc market? God, you mac fanboi’s are almost as annoying as your commercials. Hands down, I’ll take my Windows machine over your mac anyday of the week. Why? Because I like to use my pc, I like to customize my pc, and I like to upgrade my pc, and I like to game on my pc. A mac is good for many things, yes, if all you do is surf the net, download off iTunes, write papers, or do graphic work. But for gamers, tweakers, and those who enjoy testing software, Mac is not the way to go. In otherwords, shutup, go back to adjusting your dockbar, and for gods sake beg Apple to stop those stupid commercials.”
My reply is as follows:
“The honest fact that if its connected to the net, its not safe. Period.”
This is a very unenlightened response that I’ve heard from a ton of MS fans who know nothing about programming or security.
Sure, it is true, if a computer is connected to a network the it is vulnerable. But there are scales of vulnerability. Something can be less ore more secure. A door lock can be more secure than a piece of rope. The same holds true for computers. Firewalls, not running applications with SU privileges, etc.
“Yes, there are more viruses for MS software, yes there are virtually no spyware/adware/viruses for Mac’s. Hello…. do we have to go over this again? Why in the world would someone take the time to write a virus that will infect maybe 4% of the total pc market?”
We are aware of a few things:
1. Macs don’t get viruses.
2. Windows machines get viruses.
3. Therefore, if you want a virus, get a Windows machine.
4. Therefore, if you wish to be virusless, get a Mac.
I’m putting this simply (and possibly weakly) to illustrate a point. When it comes to buying a safe computer, Tanis, the best option comes to OS X.
I suppose that what you are TRYING to say is that there may be virus problems in the future(I emphasize trying because you absolutely do not say this).
Do you deny either of these?
1. On Windows there are already many viruses and there will be more.
2. On OS X there are no viruses, however there may be some in the future.
If not, then it you’re agreeing that buying MS is buying something that is guaranteed to be vulnerable, whereas on OS X you may only be vulnerable in the future.
Which is the better option?
“Hands down, I’ll take my Windows machine over your mac anyday of the week. Why? Because … I like to customize my pc, and I like to upgrade my pc, and I like to game on my pc… But for gamers, tweakers, and those who enjoy testing software, Mac is not the way to go.”
That’s fine. Keep your PC. The Mac crowd has never claimed these abilities (or at least to the degree that you can do on a MS machine). However, you should realize that for every user like yourself, there are many, many more who only… “is surf the net, download off iTunes, write papers.” That is to say, what the Mac is good for, according to you. There are many people who like to use their computers to do things, as opposed to do things to use their computers.
Now, I’d just like to point out that your own personal position is flawed, and I’d like to use an analogy:
Suppose I told you that I liked steak better than chicken because I like sweet things. Wouldn’t you suppose me to be a crazy man?
Saying that you prefer Windows over OS X because you like to customize things is analogous.
If you REALLY wanted to customize your OS, you’d be running Linux. Multiple desktop environments (cf KDE, Gnome, XFCE, Blackbox, Fluxbox, etc).
The only point left in your stance that is hard to assail is the gaming side; however, with Wine and its improved gaming abilities, your position is much weakened. And besides, you like to tweak, right? So why not tweak your games on a far more tweakable system?
