A metaphor to explain Mac security vs. Windows security

Great article. One of the best metaphors to explain Mac vs. Windows

thanks!

 

Highly amusing...

My iBook is my castle...

 

http://users.aber.ac.uk/dwb/unit_9/airlines.htm
:-D
also i read somewhere else, if win xp was one, it would be the same as regular windows, but would crash 40 mins later instead of 10

 

That story was crap. It was basically Mac propaganda. According to this story Macs never crash and it's virtually impossible to have a Windows machine not to crash constantly. Well, if that's the case why has the PC I'm writing this on not caused me any trouble, and why do some of the world's largest companies trust Windows and PCs? Oh, and why did my friend's PowerBook crash just a short while ago?

Of course I realise that Macs generally crash less frequently than PCs do, but this stuff was just stupid one-sided propaganda.

 

No, it was actually written by someone who's used Windows/DOS for 20 years, is a security expert, and finally became fed up and very recently switched to Macs. So it's someone who's quite aware of the difference between Macs and PCs, and is an expert in the field of security, and wants to explain the differences to novices.

I'd have to say it was a bit simplistic for me, but for someone who doesn't understand security at all, it could be quite helpful.

 

Good article!

 

A Windows computer is like a vacuum......it sucks.


(ok, I got nuthin..... )

 

A very simple question with a very simple answer. Actually, the answer is simple, but comes in two parts. The first part is that Windows is so widespread because it is a guaranteed employment plan for IT staff. Switch from Windows to another enterprise-level OS and reduce your IT staff by 90%. However, upper management is too intimidated to question IT's choice of Windows. The second part is most illuminating. Having chosen an inherently unreliable OS, these overstaffed IT departments still have a job to do. They must deploy systems that produce at an acceptable level. Commonly, they do not trust the latest version of Windows when failure is not an option. In fact, big companies often lag one or two major versions behind the current release of Windows.

 

In the immortal words of Butthead, we need more stuff that rocks and less stuff that sucks.

EDIT: Add....

BTW, by way of quasi-related-topics...what's up with OSes that ship with the firewall turned off? I really find that irritating.

 

He forgot to add at the end:

"Some people in the Windows house hired a watchguard (antivirus and firewall) to watch the house, but the watchguard constantly had to be woken up to find the newest invasions (needs to be updated regularly or else you wont find the latest virus). The Windows house was so upset, that they decided to mimic the design of the Mac OS X house. They painted over the walls and over the roof, changed the front door and modified the way people lived. But the same windows and doors were still open, and while it was almost indistinguishable from the Mac OS X house, some parts - the critical parts - were unchanged. In fact, this only resulted in more uninvited guests."

 

So basically you're saying that big corporations don't have the balls to cut costs when there's a chance of making more money? The same companies that gladly move their production half-way around the world despite heavy protests just to save a few bucks? Rest assured that if there was actually money to save switching from PCs to Macs they would have done it a long time ago.

 

MisterMe is right. Outsourcing, or moving entire companies half way around the world - either - would of course be daunting, but is something many management personnel could deal with. It's in the 'real world', is tangeable. However, IT - well, it can be completely alien, even scary, and as MisterMe put it, 'intimidating' to many. The IT department could be likened to a shadowy ether world, as far as some management is concerned! And please, I'm saying 'some' - it depends very much on both the personnel, and the company.
In addition, the benefits of outsourcing / relocating a company can be immediately obvious to many - however, how many people dislike Macs? Or just plain don't understand them? 'Nah, they're only good for art'.

andy.

 

Big corporations never make dumb mistakes? LOL

 

In the first part you say your's doesn't or didn't crash and the Mac did. Then in the second part you say Macs crash less frequently. It might be interesting to delve deeper to learn exactly why, or at least pose the question so others can add to the discussion.
But without any investigation into the macro and not the micro, your statements are from the mind of what I call the "willfully deaf".

 

I'm not sure you read quite deeply enough into what the author said.

He said that the IT people can deal with it, the "wizards and nerds" could deal with it.

The average Joe who doesn't know much about windows beyond the blue e is the internet and solitaire are most likely not as computer savvy as you.

 

Mac Security in General

Brilliant article that helped me a lot. However, I am a new user to Mac and to OSX in particular (OSX Panther 10.7). The switch to Mac from PC was dictated in part because of the security issues and I remain nervous. I now THINK I understand the firewall system behind Mac OSX but, because of my nervousness, I bought a copy of Firewalk-X and this sits on top of my OS. Am I wasting my time and money by this addition. Is Firewalk doing anything that the OSX Firewall isn't doing? Is there any way that I can see if stuff is going on (attempted hacks etc) that the OSX firewall is dealing with behind the scenes? The short question is really "Do I have anything to worry about re: spyware, malware, trojans etc?" Any help/advice would be welcome. Particularly as I am about to do a load of on-line banking. And um-er-um sorry if I am being stupid and somehow put this in the wrong place. Thanks

 

I sleep on the ledge above the G5 processor, and it keeps me warm in my Power Mac G5 mansion.