It worries me. As the Mac keeps getting more popular and more and more mainstream, there's only going to be more viruses and vulnerabilities for the Mac discovered, and it's going to affect all of us. Is anyone else the same or aren't you that bothered?
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Is anyone else bothered about the increasing Mac market share?
- Thread starter R94N
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Nope, the lack of ANY viruses isn't due to popularity, it is the OS
Trojans are around, but common sense avoids them
Nope, not worried by popularity at all
Oh, I thought the Mac only had less viruses because no one is really hacking/searching (I don't know the exact term) it, not because of the OS. Never mind.
Don't worry about viruses (virii?). Trojans are problematic but avoiding pirated software will almost guarantee a safe system. But that should be true for every OS not just Mac. There is a keylogger for OS X but it requires admin privileges. 
As do most of those trojans me thinks. Well, you have to give permission to install in most cases...
I'm still waiting for the Apple software repository.
As do most of those trojans me thinks. Well, you have to give permission to install in most cases... I'm still waiting for the Apple software repository.
Personally, I'm one of the users that have migrated over to OS X in recent year - although I've always had a taste and loved OS X since the VERY start!
Reasons you & others should be happy of OS X becoming more popular:
* More applications available
- AutoCAD is coming to Mac!! IF it offers compatibility of file formats, features etc, and even support for iPhone/iPad for say 60% of the desktop functions - then entrenchment into business will work.
* More issues are found and quickly fixed which benefits us as users, business owners, IT, and Apple all as a communal whole.
* features are beginning to grow, thanks in part to iPhone/iPod Touch/and now iPad.
And you're not happy for fear of OS virii or trojans?!! Repeat after ME ... NO OS IS PERFECT ... OS X comes very close but its still not perfect.
over the next few years we'll see how this all plays out.
People complained when apple had a small/shrinking marketshare
People are complaining about an increasing marketshare
Viruses are not a concern based on the architecture of OSX. Malware/trojans will most likely increase
Can't they freeze the market share?????
The Mac system is more stable, and more secure simply in the way apps are installed and how far major things can go on their own without some user interaction. That's not allowed for dumb things you do in your browser or things you yourself download and install.
I'm intelligent enough to use my computer responsibly, but there is more risk of finding bad things on a PC. That said, the biggest problem is PEBKAC.
What, me worry?
I'm intelligent enough to use my computer responsibly, but there is more risk of finding bad things on a PC. That said, the biggest problem is PEBKAC.
What, me worry?
It may seem that Apple is taking over the consumer electronics field but if you look past the iPhone/iPad hype, the only people buying Macs are previous Mac users, children of Mac users going to college and the occasional convert from the PC world. Windows machines will always dominate based on price alone.
Even if Macs become mainstream, they won't have even near the viruses as Windows. Why is that? A number of reasons:
1: Microsoft Windows programmers are lazy. Microsoft had to hit them on the head with UAC so they wouldn't have their code always run as the equivalent of root every chance they get. Mac developers understand the user/root model. Even though Windows has DEP and ASLR, Windows devs are too lazy to implement it, or even actively break DEP due to lazy programming. Because of this lowest-bidder coding, it isn't a big wonder why there are so many security holes in Windows applications.
2: Mac developers don't crap where they sleep. People have a respect for the OS X platform. This is the same with Linux, BSD, and many others. It isn't considered cool to trash these platforms. Windows doesn't have that, as most developers are only loyal as long as the checks keep rolling in.
3: Users of non MS platforms tend to be more educated. Choosing to buy a Mac is a deliberate choice. It isn't just like grabbing some computer out of a big box store, setting it up and turning it on, and using Windows because it was on the machine. Mac users deliberately purchased their hardware.
4: Macs are built from the ground up for security. While Windows has to have some sort of CPU and resource hogging antivirus utility in memory 24/7, no other platform needs this for basic protection.
1: Microsoft Windows programmers are lazy. Microsoft had to hit them on the head with UAC so they wouldn't have their code always run as the equivalent of root every chance they get. Mac developers understand the user/root model. Even though Windows has DEP and ASLR, Windows devs are too lazy to implement it, or even actively break DEP due to lazy programming. Because of this lowest-bidder coding, it isn't a big wonder why there are so many security holes in Windows applications.
2: Mac developers don't crap where they sleep. People have a respect for the OS X platform. This is the same with Linux, BSD, and many others. It isn't considered cool to trash these platforms. Windows doesn't have that, as most developers are only loyal as long as the checks keep rolling in.
3: Users of non MS platforms tend to be more educated. Choosing to buy a Mac is a deliberate choice. It isn't just like grabbing some computer out of a big box store, setting it up and turning it on, and using Windows because it was on the machine. Mac users deliberately purchased their hardware.
4: Macs are built from the ground up for security. While Windows has to have some sort of CPU and resource hogging antivirus utility in memory 24/7, no other platform needs this for basic protection.
Increased market share is theoretically good. It means more resources for OS development, the potential to develop a more varied product line to cater to niches and more resources in general for the platform. Apple is sitting on a huge pile of cash that they can use to further enhance all of their platforms.
I don't know whether you have reliable source to back your description of Mac buyers demographics, but one sure thing is that Mac market share grows at double-digit rates on a quarter over quarter basis, (Q2 v. Q1 2010, that is after Windows 7 has found its place in the market).
While Macs dethroning Windows PC's is arguably not going to happen soon, the bleeding hurts bad on Microsoft's side, as they're unquestionably losing on the brand-sustainability front.
Assuming your point is true, which I don't believe, but for this purpose we'll assume it anyway, when Macs become mainstream, those lazy programmers will then be coding for OSX....
Ok. Is this law of the universe enforced by pixies or is it unicorns?
I'm not sure how deliberately choosing an operating system becomes a shield against a virus. This is an intriguing argument.
I'll agree that OSX has a much better model for security. But "built from the ground up" is a bit of a stretch.
The bottom line is that there are very few actual viruses in the windows world. Most malware are at least partially trojans. Meaning that the user must do something "ignorant" to become infected. Every time you download and open something on your computer and click the little "You downloaded this off the internet, are you sure you want to run it" box, you've completely opened yourself up to the possibility of a virus just as bad as any that targets Windows.
Very few virus' are installed without some action by the user allowing it to happen.
I am certain that as OSX becomes more and more popular, malware will become more and more of a problem for it's users. It's simply a fact of life.
I'm not bothered by their popularity, but I'm bother by why they're becoming popular...at least on university campuses.
They've become the go-to for "pretty" computers. I watched the girl in front of me Google "how do i change the background on my mac?". I shouldn't make fun because everyone has to learn one way or another, but she struck me as the kind of person who ran to mommy and daddy and had them buy the most expensive laptop they could find, just because "it was pretty" and everyone else had one.
Sigh. I'll disregard the fact that she didn't understand that to kill a program you actually have to hit Quit instead of just red-Xing out. Admittedly though, it confused me the first time too.
They've become the go-to for "pretty" computers. I watched the girl in front of me Google "how do i change the background on my mac?". I shouldn't make fun because everyone has to learn one way or another, but she struck me as the kind of person who ran to mommy and daddy and had them buy the most expensive laptop they could find, just because "it was pretty" and everyone else had one.
Sigh.
I'll disregard the fact that she didn't understand that to kill a program you actually have to hit Quit instead of just red-Xing out. Admittedly though, it confused me the first time too.
Whereas I disagree with the OP's concerns, your argument is not valid as the Mac market share is no way near as interesting as the Windows PC market share to a malware dev.
If someone actually coded a Mac Virus that managed to get through OS X's defenses they would become very famous just because it hasn't been done