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Google Switches Away from Windows (Mostly to Mac) Due to Security Concerns

ten-oak-druid said:
If Mac OS was truly so vulnerable, more apple haters would have produced viruses for it by now for their own personal pleasure.
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In the case of Google they were hacked by China in what was most likely a government backed hacking effort. It is not really an Apple vs Windows thing. China just wants to get at Google regardless of the OS. China and Google have been at odds over censorship for many months now. My concern is that China may now devote hacking resources towards exposing security flaws in OSX. It is silly to think that OSX or any other OS is invulnerable to hacking and viruses. Do you think hundreds of Chinese government hackers won't be able to cause trouble.
 
Yeah, but ....

Not sure how much it matters in their situation? Many of their apps are being developed for both platforms anyway (Google Earth, Chrome, Picasa, etc.). That means they may well be writing them in a language that's the same on either platform, vs. doing all the development in a version of Microsoft Visual Studio or the like.

I don't think Google is the type of company you want to be working for, if you're one of those "Windows only guys" anyway.... They need really flexible people who wouldn't view a change of OS platform as a big "learning curve".


MacGod said:
My take is - you get the platform that you can be the most productive on.

If that is Windows - great, Linux, or Mac - also great.

I would certainly hate to be a Windows only guy at Google and then given a Mac.

that will be quite a learning curve and a hassle for their IT department.

Bill
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HLdan said:
What was the point of your post? Are you suggesting that I just made up this whole thing about NASA? (...) It's old news and I tried searching for the information so I could post a link but I failed at finding anything.
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Found something.
Is this it?
http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/3828/

And more fun:

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/9-12/features/N_Apple_Learning_Interchange_Resources.html

http://pcworld.co.nz/pcworld/pcw.nsf/feature/7A6BCA446DC440D5CC2575E4001CDB07

http://ranier.hq.nasa.gov/nhmug_page/nhmug.shtm
 
D0rk said:
Do they not screen lock computers at Google? Where I work it's downright a sin to walk away from your computer without Win+L screen locking it. I know there's no "official" way to do that with OSX, and I'd figure there would be a necessity for that at Google with the incredibly open atmosphere they have.
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You can set this up easily in Keychain access. It will put a lock icon in the menubar, just click the lock and it locks the screen. Does it have to be a keyboard command to be "official"?
 
kingtj said:
Not sure how much it matters in their situation? Many of their apps are being developed for both platforms anyway (Google Earth, Chrome, Picasa, etc.). That means they may well be writing them in a language that's the same on either platform, vs. doing all the development in a version of Microsoft Visual Studio or the like.
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Last time I tried Picasa in Linux it was actually running on top of Wine. Really sucks because Picasa is great on Windows but in Linux (wine) the experience is just not the same.
 
Macs all the way!

ahhhhh, the revenge of the macintosh! I see it happening now, and it is GLORIOUS! 
anyways... More and more software is being written for the mac platform all the time. I keep seeing new games and software coming to the mac, and with Microsofts EPIC FAIL on the slate computers (which they stole the name from apple) and there lack of creativity into making new and better products. The only market they have a chance at still is XBOX but its slipping away with the PS3. So now there losing contractors of windows, WHAT A SUPRISE STEVE BALMER CONSIDERING THAT YOU HAVE DONE ALMOST NO IMPROVEMENT OVER THE LAST 3 VERSIONS OF WINDOWS! (no windows 7 ISNT better, its ANNOYING as HELL, I cant use it for 5 minutes ON MY MAC without SCREAMING MY ****ING HEAD OFF)
 
As a fangirl, I have to say this is pretty sweet. Of course, half of the users were using linux, so this is kinda moot. I bet the employees get access to some awesome Macs.
 
HLdan said:
What was the point of your post? Are you suggesting that I just made up this whole thing about NASA? Yes, I should've made myself completely clear about NASA "switching" since people on this forum think they are so perfect that everyone else has to be perfect as well.
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No, the point was to show you that making blanket statements about an organization "switching" to Macs (when in reality a few users here and there might be using them) is misleading. You could at least be more specific.

Remember something, we don't get paid on MR for giving you all the facts, if you want ALL the facts Google them yourself instead of questioning everything I'm saying word for word and demanding that I explain myself.
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Sorry, but if you make the posit you should be able to provide the proof. Since you've failed to do so and logical counterexamples have been given, there's no point trying to keep disproving your unverifiable claims.

It's old news and I tried searching for the information so I could post a link but I failed at finding anything. Silly me, I thought some of the enthusiasts on this forum would've heard of this by now 🙄.
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If NASA's entire computing infrastructure switched from Windows to OS X you would have no trouble finding it.

Atkins said:
Found something.
Is this it?
http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/3828/

And more fun:

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/9-12/features/N_Apple_Learning_Interchange_Resources.html

http://pcworld.co.nz/pcworld/pcw.nsf/feature/7A6BCA446DC440D5CC2575E4001CDB07

Yes, these are all instances of various NASA scientists using Macs, although....

http://ranier.hq.nasa.gov/nhmug_page/nhmug.shtm
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...has the following line at the bottom of the page:

This home page and WebStar server is run on a Macintosh PPC 9500/132, running Mac OS 8, and was built with guidance from several of the resources found on Carl de Cordova's list of Web Development Pointers.
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Might be a little outdated :-\

The larger issue is that while here and there a governmental organization might have a Mac user base, it's the exception...not the rule. Thus it's not really comparable to the Google situation as they're seemingly purging Windows from their network entirely.
 
bwillwall said:
ahhhhh, the revenge of the macintosh! I see it happening now, and it is GLORIOUS! 
anyways... More and more software is being written for the mac platform all the time. I keep seeing new games and software coming to the mac, and with Microsofts EPIC FAIL on the slate computers (which they stole the name from apple) and there lack of creativity into making new and better products. The only market they have a chance at still is XBOX but its slipping away with the PS3. So now there losing contractors of windows, WHAT A SUPRISE STEVE BALMER CONSIDERING THAT YOU HAVE DONE ALMOST NO IMPROVEMENT OVER THE LAST 3 VERSIONS OF WINDOWS! (no windows 7 ISNT better, its ANNOYING as HELL, I cant use it for 5 minutes ON MY MAC without SCREAMING MY ****ING HEAD OFF)
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And us Linux users are supposed to be the weird ones huh.....
 
cvaldes said:
OS X becomes a target when a billion consumers are users.

Crackers are interested in the low-hanging fruit.
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If by "low-hanging fruit" you mean inherently less secure design. Because if market dominance was the primary reason Windows is so frequently hacked then we would expect Linux servers, which dominate the web, to be hacked more often and more severely than IIS, but that isn't the case:

This reasoning backfires when one considers that Apache is by far the most popular web server software on the Internet. According to the September 2004 Netcraft web site survey, [1] 68% of web sites run the Apache web server. Only 21% of web sites run Microsoft IIS. If security problems boil down to the simple fact that malicious hackers target the largest installed base, it follows that we should see more worms, viruses, and other malware targeting Apache and the underlying operating systems for Apache than for Windows and IIS. Furthermore, we should see more successful attacks against Apache than against IIS, since the implication of the myth is that the problem is one of numbers, not vulnerabilities.

Yet this is precisely the opposite of what we find, historically. IIS has long been the primary target for worms and other attacks, and these attacks have been largely successful. The Code Red worm that exploited a buffer overrun in an IIS service to gain control of the web servers infected some 300,000 servers, and the number of infections only stopped because the worm was deliberately written to stop spreading. Code Red.A had an even faster rate of infection, although it too self-terminated after three weeks. Another worm, IISWorm, had a limited impact only because the worm was badly written, not because IIS successfully protected itself.
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http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/10/22/security_report_windows_vs_linux/#myth1
 
AppleFan1984 said:
If by "low-hanging fruit" you mean inherently less secure design. Because if market dominance was the primary reason Windows is so frequently hacked then we would expect Linux servers, which dominate the web, to be hacked more often and more severely than IIS, but that isn't the case:


http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/10/22/security_report_windows_vs_linux/#myth1
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Good point. The use of Linux/UNIX and Apache in the wild far exceeds IIS. Yet most of the Web issues, etc. have been on the client side [i.e. Windows].

I argue this point with people all the time. I don't disagree that because Windows IS used more, that the attacks are bigger, or appear to be more widespread. It's just a fact. But it's not the only reason...
 
bwillwall said:
More and more software is being written for the mac platform all the time.
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You do realize Google are merely changing work platforms to OSX or Linux as per employee's choice. This doesn't mean Google will develop more OSX applications.

SactoGuy18 said:
That's why I wonder why Google isn't using a decent Linux distribution like Ubuntu Linux 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) for their work machines.
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I've developed on both OSX and Linux. Personally, I'd rather use OSX over Linux any day of the week -
1. OSX easier to maintain ( for both myself and Admin - depending on skill level / familarity )
2. Software generally better - i.e. Mail
3. Can broadly use the same software for OSX as with Linux even if it means having to use Ports / or use alternatives to do the same job
4. OSX offers better UI ( IMO ) than Linux

I wish more companies would offer the choice of OSX or Linux.
 
SkippyThorson said:
I think this is almost like Google learning how to be Apple, more than anything else... 😉
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The first Chrome OS netbooks will be available in late 2010, Pichai said. It will not be available as a download to run and install. Instead, Chrome OS is only shipping on specific hardware from manufacturers Google has partnered with. That means if you want Chrome OS, you’ll have to purchase a Chrome OS device.

From http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009...d-drives-the-future-is-the-web/#ixzz0pcdwucJX
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So, yeah. Seems like they are...
 
I interviewed with Google over 4 years ago, and back then Google was not using any Windows machines. They had their own distro of Linux running on desktops and laptops. Rumor had it that Google would be releasing that distro to the public as the Google OS, but this has not yet materealized. Perhaps Chrome OS was developed from that effort. The only people that were using Windows at Google were Google Aps developers that had to make sure their programs were compatible with Windows as well as developers of Windows-based applications. Incidentally, Google did not use any Cisco equipment either. All their routers are Juniper. Google hates both Microsoft and Cisco. This information is from the horse's mouth even though it's 4+ years old. I can only see non- technical Googlers using Macs - those who need mostly browsing, email, and productivity suite. Technical Googlers, such as network engineers, programmers, DB admins, server admins, etc., most likely use Linux like they have been since the inception of Google. Additionally, with the current rift between Google and Apple, it's hard to believe Google is investing in the Apple platform.
 
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