Mac mini pre or post Intel?

[maxigalaxy]

I want to get my dad (he's almost 70!) his first computer (well...he has had an old celeron for a few months...but that's not even a computer) and I want him to be as safe as possible.
I was planning to buy a Mac Mini, but then I thought just wait for the new Intels to come out. Now, here is the question...
Are the new Mac Intel going to be less safe as far as viruses, spywares and all that Krap...?
Are the application becoming .EXE or staying with the current DMG configuration?
Sorry for these questions that may sound stupid to someone, but I think they are important for my decision. My dad's not gonna use the computer for many things, but I want him to be happy with the Internet experience especially, so these issues become relevant.
Thanks!

 

[840quadra]

I want to get my dad (he's almost 70!) his first computer (well...he has had an old celeron for a few months...but that's not even a computer) and I want him to be as safe as possible.
I was planning to buy a Mac Mini, but then I thought just wait for the new Intels to come out. Now, here is the question...
Are the new Mac Intel going to be less safe as far as viruses, spywares and all that Krap...?
Are the application becoming .EXE or staying with the current DMG configuration?
Sorry for these questions that may sound stupid to someone, but I think they are important for my decision. My dad's not gonna use the computer for many things, but I want him to be happy with the Internet experience especially, so these issues become relevant.
Thanks!

Remember that you can search these forums as this and topics like it have been discussed exhaustively during the past few months.

in short,
The intel macintosh computers will work and feel exactly like they do under PPC. They will still use .app, and be just as safe from viruses and spyware when compared to PCs. It was mostly the OS, not just the hardware alone that made PPC OS X safe.

Be sure to also check out the Guides tab on the top of any page on Macrumors.

 

[Project]

To be honest I think youll be crazy to buy a Mini right now. I expect their specs to be significantly enhanced come Macworld. If they dont, then you can buy then.

 

[maxigalaxy]

Thanks, for the answer!
Sorry about not having not checked the old topics...

 

[840quadra]

Thanks, for the answer!
Sorry about not having not checked the old topics...

No problem, and welcome to the community .

 

[ITASOR]

I don't think apps will ever be the same .exe's that run under Windows. Even Linux doesn't use .exe's and Linux can be installed natively on PCs.

.DMG isn't an app extension, it's a disk image containing the application and associated files. Mac OS X uses the .app extension.

 

[maxigalaxy]

I don't think apps will ever be the same .exe's that run under Windows. Even Linux doesn't use .exe's and Linux can be installed natively on PCs.

.DMG isn't an app extension, it's a disk image containing the application and associated files. Mac OS X uses the .app extension.

As you can imagine I am not really into tec knowledge, but this is helping me a lot.I am glad that the OS is going to feel exactly the same!

 

[ITASOR]

As you can imagine I am not really into tec knowledge, but this is helping me a lot.I am glad that the OS is going to feel exactly the same!

That's ok, that's why people are here, to help! Yeah it's going to feel pretty much the same, maybe only a few differences like it being faster.

 

[Randall]

All of the Windows issues (spyware, malware, virii, etc.) are software issues that have nothing to do with the hardware that's running it. That's why when you run Linux there is never any of these problems, because it's UNIX based similar to OS X. Because of the way that UNIX systems are set up, it's next to impossible for a virus to exist on the system. The .EXE execuatable file format is a Windows only file format, and one that you'll never see running on OS X.

So the short answer is that you will never have to worry about PC problems on a n intel Mac. Even if they run the same hardware architecture and processors, all the Windows security issues are in the software, and you will be safe with OS X.

 

[maxigalaxy]

The more I read these replies, the more I feel so great!!!!!!!!!

 

[JDOG_]

Wait two weeks

 

[iMeowbot]

Are the new Mac Intel going to be less safe as far as viruses, spywares and all that Krap...?

It won't make any major difference, provided that the machine is running OS X. Everything changes if Windows is ever run on the machine, of course.

Are the application becoming .EXE or staying with the current DMG configuration?

No, OS X won't run Windows software all by itself. Something like Virtual PC or VMware would be needed to do that. (A DMG is a virtual disk image, not an executable program format. OS X normally uses a binary format known as Mach-O, often wrapped inside a folder with an .app extension.)

So, as long as you don't add software to force the ability to run Windows programs (and the associated malware that can come along for the ride), you have nothing new to worry about after the Intel switch.