Are Mac's inherently safer?

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Leo, don't give up your day job! You clearly don't know what you are talking about when it comes to Macintosh computers. You try to argue their weaknesses based on only a Windows level of knowledge. That's just flawed in so many ways. Go get educated first, then come back and try again. You can "believe" all you want about the Mac OSX having security flaws, but that won't make it so. Keep dreaming. If you don't own a Mac, and don't really have experience with one, how the hell can you say something so stupid as "More than Windows? Fewer than Windows? I don't know, but it doesn't really matter, because they are there." What an asinine statement.

I appreciate your attempt to compare the security of both the windows an dmac os. It's true, almost an computer connected to the internet without proper firewalls, etc. can be exploited and breach. However, you fail to mention that macs are simply much more secure than windows in terms of that breach. Every program installed needs administrative privelges and passwords prior to installation. Additionally, in order to serious hurt the OS you need root access which is by default not accessible without certain admin privleges. True the market share is smaller for the mac user, and that is just one small reason why there are no viruses, trojans, etc. One of the major and overlooked reasons is the mac community. Mac users have seemed to grow into a cult, where they love their system, their hardware, their software, and the sake of just owning a "mac." These users are far more preoccupied with using their mac and creating on it rather than writing viruses for it. It's almost like a double edge sword, where those who love their mac, really love it, and those same people who rather you NOT switch and continue to be a windows lover. We don't need more mac users, but once you are one, you're damn proud of it.

Your choice of computer depends on your needs. gamers really shouldn't buy macs, because there are far more pc games available, but the ability to create those games........can be done on a mac.

Apple is the only company that creates both the hardware and software and that results in things working hand in hand without the faulty problems that windows users experience everyday.

Like I said, I appreciate your attempt to make this comparison, but honestly..........it's like apples and oranges.

Let's see- never owned a Mac but speaks as an expert?
The man is a bloomin' idiot!

I'm not going to restate what everyone else said here... besides the fact that you don't even OWN a Mac and think you know about it. Let alone have you used one for more than a few days in the year or so?

Your ignorance is like me saying this: I'm gonna say Ford cars suck but I own a TOYOTA.

Please.... are you kidding me?

I also think it's pretty immature to play the game of "how many anti-me comments I'll get.

You sir, are an idiot. You have not researched anything. You haven't even tried a Mac in a real world enviroment. Why not have some FACTS before writing this purely opinion column? Ask-Leo.Com lost whatever credibility it had.

Next time, do a comparison. Get a Mac, with the latest version of OS X on it. With all the updates. Get a Windows XP machine, with the latest service packs. Use both for a week, and see which has a virus or problems.

In order to understand the underlying differences between Mac OS X (Unix) security and Windows security you need only read this article:

http://macdailynews.com/index.php?URL=http://www.icefox.net/articles/why_microsoft_market_share_wont_grow.php

OS X is not secure through obscurity. Any Unix virus or malware would work against a Mac, and the Unix (all flavors combined) market share rivals that of Windows. Unix is simply designed for security with multiple users where Windows never has been and so far, will not be in the future with Vista. The difference is the presence of a registry. Windows is a house with no interior doors locked and some windows left open. Mac OS X is a house with all the doors and windows locked, even the interior ones. Break into the Mac house and you find yourself in a locked broom closet. Crawl into the Windows house through one of the open windows and you have the run of the place.

OK, time to put this to an end. I'm closing comments on this thread.
Folks are now basically just repeating the same sentiments over and
over.

As I read them the comments are best summarized as:

- Leo's an idiot

- Market share has nothing to do with it.

- Leo has no idea what he's talking about.

- OS/X is based on Unix, and therefore inherrently better than Windows.
It's simply a more secure operating system, period.

- Leo's an idiot.

- Windows sucks.

- "Macs" is not possessive. It is plural.

I *do* want to thank the folks who posted rational, informative counter
arguments. They're an important, and educational, perspective.

I definitely did expect there to be discussion on this topic. I will
say, however, that I'm disappointed that it got as personal and as
emotional as it did.

Gee, I do not remember seeing anywhere that Leo stated any certain Mac OS. If you do follow the news you will find that the hackers have penetrated the Mac Os many times and did it within 10 minutes. Now does that mean that a Mac is safe? NO, Does that mean that they may be safer than a PC? Yes But everyone needs to make sure that their computers are safe. Even companies that use Unix use firewalls and scan for viruses and such. If you wish to run your computer with your head down a hole in the ground then be ready to accept what happens. I have had to clean many Macs for a Mac dealer that they took in on trade for newer machines. So saying that one is free from viruses or intrusion is false. Wake up everybody and do what is needed to protect your computers. This means everyone.
Thank you

I own 2 macs, and have used many PCs in my life. Ive never had a virus on either Mac or Windows. I know for a fact that they both are susceptible to viruses, and that there never will be a computer immune. I would have to say that the Macintosh community as a whole is less at risk for viruses because Mac users seem to love their computers to the point they dont want to break them, Mac is built on unix which is historically more secure, and the Mac requires you enable anything you download to execute before it runs. Windows just seems so much more vulnerable, all a virus needs to do is attack a few select folders, which any user can access, to wreak havoc.

To counter all those that say that linux is the safest, its only because the people who write linux and run it are, for the most part, computer programmers and would love nothing more than to just have their own little operating system for free. Also why would linux users write viruses for each other?

And to anyone who says Mac cant get a virus, my antivirus has over 500 000 virus definitions in its database. Im not sure about how many there actually are.

Great article Leo, very thought provoking on the issue, but perhaps next time a little more research?

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