Why do I even have virus protection for my pc?

[Barbara]

I never had a virus here at home (knock on wood). Of course I update my virus scanner daily. I think the basic reason is I only go to a handful of websites- like PT, my bank, my e-mail account, some very serious magazines, wikipedia etc.
People who download from non-serious sites are in much bigger danger. Or people who believe it when something pops up telling you you win or can download cute emoticons or whatever.

[Alasse]

If you are an avid downloader of files (especially from non certified places), then alot of times viruses ride in with the download. If you let it in its hardly the Antivirus programs fault *L* That is the risk you take unfortunately

[Puckstop31]

The reason PCs have more viruses is not because Windows is more vulnerable for a design standpoint. Windows is actually the most secure OS out there, if you look at security updates. The problem is they are by far the biggest target. OS-X, etc, all have the same buffer overrun flaws that allow bad code to run, just nobody has taken the time to attack Macs yet. Not enough people to piss off to bother I reckon.

Now, Macs are wonderful for home use or if you are a graphic/web designer. Want to run a real business though? Forget about a Mac.

Macs = Play
PCs = Work

More or less.

PCs can be configured to run well, be safe and do what they are supposed to. Problem is, that means staying off Limewire, Facebook, Myspace, etc...


So Mac people... Pound your chest all you want, but the reason there are no Mac viruses is just because nobody has written one yet. Now, as Mac gains market share..... Lets just say that the first Mac virus is going to be a hoot. LOL Understand I say this knowing my next machine for home is going to be a Mac.


Oh and as for Dell. My company is a Dell partner. My one simple piece of advice... Stay away from Dimension and Inspiron machines. Those are the products targeted at the retail market and they SUCK. Buy Optiplex desktops of Latitude laptops. These are the business line of products, use better hardware and have a MUCH, MUCH cleaner OS install.

Buy from http://outlet.dell.com Save about $400 per PC. Same warranty, same hardware. (NO, my company has zero vested intrest in this site. I nor my company make any money off this site.)

[Hellow]

The reason PCs have more viruses is not because Windows is more vulnerable for a design standpoint. Windows is actually the most secure OS out there, if you look at security updates. The problem is they are by far the biggest target. OS-X, etc, all have the same buffer overrun flaws that allow bad code to run, just nobody has taken the time to attack Macs yet. Not enough people to piss off to bother I reckon.

Microsoft designed their OS so that, by default, the first user on the computer is the administrator. One of the large flaws in Windows. Another one is the fact that their firewall defends against incoming, not outgoing, attacks. Yet another one is proven by the large list of security patches they release weekly, that their OS is full of holes. Mac OS X and Linux/Unix are probably the most secure OSs out there, if only by design. OS X is based off Unix, and Linux is based off Minix which is based off Unix. All of them have the best firewall ever seen on the face of the earth integrated into the Linux/Unix kernel. So far, I have gotten about 2 security updates this week, and one was from firefox, the other being from a small hole in a lib file. The last major security breach in Linux/Unix happened a few months ago, from PGP keys being exploited. They fixed that in about 2 days, and I helped on the Ubuntu side. It is a few years back when something like that has happened in Linux, and that seems to be discovered weekly/monthly in Windows. Linux/Unix is the most popular server platform there is, so it is attacked millions of times daily, and they still have not found anything major or most anything minor wrong. Windows is /not/ the most secure OS .

Heh, I tend to get way too passionate about these types of things .

[Puckstop31]

Microsoft designed their OS so that, by default, the first user on the computer is the administrator. One of the large flaws in Windows. Another one is the fact that their firewall defends against incoming, not outgoing, attacks. Yet another one is proven by the large list of security patches they release weekly, that their OS is full of holes. Mac OS X and Linux/Unix are probably the most secure OSs out there, if only by design. OS X is based off Unix, and Linux is based off Minix which is based off Unix. All of them have the best firewall ever seen on the face of the earth integrated into the Linux/Unix kernel. So far, I have gotten about 2 security updates this week, and one was from firefox, the other being from a small hole in a lib file. The last major security breach in Linux/Unix happened a few months ago, from PGP keys being exploited. They fixed that in about 2 days, and I helped on the Ubuntu side. It is a few years back when something like that has happened in Linux, and that seems to be discovered weekly/monthly in Windows. Linux/Unix is the most popular server platform there is, so it is attacked millions of times daily, and they still have not found anything major or most anything minor wrong. Windows is /not/ the most secure OS .

Heh, I tend to get way too passionate about these types of things .

I hear ya... Fair enough I reckon. I do this stuff for a living but am VERY UN-passionate about it. Just counting the days till I can get back to the farm. LOL

So this is the part where curse Bill Gates for being, IMHO, the smartest businessman EVER. He took a product that was not the best and made it the world business standard....

[Hellow]

I hear ya... Fair enough I reckon. I do this stuff for a living but am VERY UN-passionate about it. Just counting the days till I can get back to the farm. LOL

So this is the part where curse Bill Gates for being, IMHO, the smartest businessman EVER. He took a product that was not the best and made it the world business standard....

I semi-develop stuff for Linux mainly. I also run personal Linux servers and my own desktop, which is this (Its also Linux, Arch Linux to be specific). I support macs only because of the fact that they based Leopard off the Unix kernel, otherwise I would be drilling them into the hole along with Windows .