“Bill Thompson, computing expert, explains how a basic programming mistake has led to Microsoft’s announcement of a ‘critical’ security flaw in its widely-used Windows operating system. Microsoft programmers made a mistake in the part of the operating system code that allows programs to talk to each other,” The Times Online reports. “This would allow a hacker to send incorrect information to a program and cause it to crash – leaving that computer open to the outside world.”
“When a system crashes it doesn’t stop working, it runs a different program instead – which the hacker can specify and could allow them to take control of the computer. Microsoft is not the only company which writes bad code, but it is a target for hackers because it dominates the market. So it does have a duty to be better than everybody else and it is failing in that duty,” The Times Online reports. “This error is a stupid fault. Whoever wrote that piece of software should be mortified. It’s a pathetic little mistake.”
“This bug was identified six months ago. In the last year Microsoft said that it would focus much more on security. Given that this code was written before then, it can be given the benefit of the doubt. But it is quite clear that buried in the existing code are lots of problems,” The Times Online reports. “Mac OS and Linux are written in such a way that any faults don’t have such widespread effects. They have a proper security architecture built in, limiting access. Windows didn
The IT guy at my company is, due to cutbacks, also the Operations Manager. He knows what he’s doing when it comes to System Administration, but it’s not his only duty. It accounts for approximately one third of his responsibilities. For the last two weeks he’s been wrestling with making sure MyDoom didn’t get around, but doing so messed up some of the software that is critical for most of the 45 employees here to use to do their jobs, and now, just as he got that all worked out, he has to run patches to fix this newest critical flaw and hope that those patches don’t wreck anything that he just repaired, all the while, his other duties are unfortunately ignored. He’s spent 4 nights here in the last two weeks because of all this, going from one computer to the next fixing and patching. All except one that is. The Mac I’m typing on now, which he hasn’t spent a single minute administering since it was purchased a year and a half ago.
“The ten grand or so it would take to replace this hardware with Apple does not seem like a good deal to me. Hell ten grand would only get me started, with all those VPC’s I would need.”
Sorry McConnel, I am unable to talk through my ASS unlike some people around here.
Too bad you are not successful enough in what you do to be able to afford to finally DUMP your craptacular Wintel network and buy something that actually works.
Do Wintel zealots like you EVER factor in their personal time when estimating costs? Apparently not, and there is simply no way you are going to convince any of us running successful companies using Mac networks that we spend even a 5th the time you do messing with network hardware and operating systems.
We don’t even employ an IT person for our company’s 57 unit Mac network. Several of us know enough about what needs to be done to manage it on our own and considering how little attention the systems require from us, we hardly ever need to think about it. IT JUST WORKS.
Anything in that last part you don’t understand? You seem incapable of critical thought, so I will assume the answer will be yes.
I still find it amazing that a Wintel zealot your caliber feels the need to spend so much of your day here on a Macintosh message forum. If you actually learned anything accurate about Macs and OS X through all these discussions you have posted in, that would be one thing, but you are just as clueless about our system of choice today as you were those months ago when you first raised your fat head in public and started spewing your idiotic FUD around.
Do you even read what others are saying before you post, or do you simply scroll to the bottom and start typing? I suspect the latter.
That really speaks volumes Joe. Not only do you place little to no value on your personal time, you can’t even claim to have learned anything about the hardware and software you so love to hate. I guess I will never understand the rational or motivation of a full-time troll.
Still, you do have my sympathy.
Awaiting a reply from that famous talking ass of yours. ;o)
Good one ndelc.
I also applaud MDN’s take on this. I think the statement
” Mac OS X is simply more secure than Windows. 70,000+ Windows viruses and worms vs. 0 (zero) for Mac OS X attests to that fact.”
Or some equivalent should be included in every article on Windoze (non)Security. This is just too important a stat to be left out and the average Joe user should be informed of this without having to dig.
s, that is so true, rebranding the G5 to HP would be better and more cost effective. No need in recoding an entire OS to work on an Intel chip.
There just has to be a way to put a big dent in the MS monopoly machine.
Here is my take on why there are no virii on the mac.
In order to write a virus for a mac, a programmer would have to become very familiar with programming/scripting the mac. Hence, they would have to use the mac for a good deal of time. Chances are that if anyone starts working on a mac with that intention, by the time they build the skills to write malicious code, they will have come to realize the advantages of working on the mac and all their motivation to write malicious code will have evaporated. Why sabotage the OS you love?
“Good point Scott, there are only 4 here, all doing the same thing.”
Hee heh… Thought as much.
Joe, your tiny little network can hardly be used to reach any conclusions over the security/cost/IT differences between a business sized Mac network and a PC one.
I would still venture a guess that you spend more time maintaining those four machines than someone with 25 Macs would, but I digress.
Now that I know your actual situation, your off-base opinions and observations over the viability of a Mac make a lot more sense. Needless to say, you are not even in the same league as many of us who are basing our opinions on first hand experience with both platforms in LARGE network environments.
I suggest you stay on the side-lines from now on and leave the commentary regarding system security and networking to people who actually have some REAL WORLD experience with the subject.
You are just one step above a home office user. Time to start acting like one and not trying to pretend you are some kind of IT professional with multi-platform experience.
I find the most interesting part of this whole story is the fact that Microsoft freely admits they have known about this “critical” security hole for over six months — and they have been able to keep it out of the press for six months while they worked on a patch.
I wonder how many times this hole was exploited and kept out of the press too.
If there ever were justification for a class action lawsuit it would be for some people who may have been cracked in the past six months while Microsoft intentionally kept them in the dark.
Phone call to MS support: “My computer got cracked, and I don’t know why.”
Microsoft response: “We don’t know either.”
RV, I think you’re showing a bit tooo much animosity toward Joe here, after all , he has at least been straightforward and owned up to the size of his network (cough, is that indicative of other things, and if so, proportional or inversely proportional).
One mistake Joe makes is to assume that every machine would have to be replaced at once. Not so. You can introduce macs incrementally, so when a PC becomes obsolete, just put a mac in there. Don’t forget, it will then last longer. The only thing that needs to be done first is to abandon M$ lock-in systems, but that should be imperative anyway!
But Joe, surely you would admit that many many IT departments have had huge trouble with M$ updates wrecking things, not installing themselves as appears, or introducing new holes. If Windows works well in a 4 computer environment, maybe that’s where it should stay!
Yo RV, I have never claimed to be anything I am not, have been clear on what I am (hobbyist pc builder, small business owner, shade tree tech for a couple businesses) and always say that anecdotal evidence isn’t good enough to win a point. I must say boeing’s posts have me thinking a bit, anecdotal or not.
Stay on the sidelines? Fat chance. What’s the point of listening to Steve Jack and the rest of you congratulate yourselves while making up (some) facts and denigrating the 97% of the population that use the competition? I will be back to state facts when I know them and take lumps when I deserve them. And also to clear up the false allegations about me that you convey.
And, most especially, to listen to you froth at the mouth.
Jimbo, I love computers, just got an ancient g3 for my mom, and do wonder if a G5 might be so much of an improvement for my office that I should get one. The thing is, right now, the state of the art in wintel is so inexpensively had when one builds them oneself that the equivelent mac is quite pricey.
I use osX and 9 a few hours a year and have not yet found it to be so much better than my windows 2000, for the things that I do. Were I to have to do a critical update on 250 boxes, I would certainly have a different view. I still wonder if the quasi religious experience some people have with Mac os results from their donation to the collection plate, so to speak.
As well, I am fascinated by Apple, and wonder why they don’t sell more computers. No one need believe my anectodal testimony that I see many fewer Macs around here, in liberal northern California, than I did 5 years ago, but it is true. Sure there is FUD, but Apple also seems to ignore the obvious: their advertising is spotty, seems to go out of its way to ignore the security advantages of osX, and their product line does not have a entry model to compete with wintel based on processor speed. Do they want to sell more computers? I wonder. There is a lot to be said for specialty markets vs. commodities.
So that’s why I am here…..to bug RV, to argue with the rest of you who CAN speak English, even the guy from Finland, and to find out stuff about hardware and Apple. I do try to make sense without being abusive, unless called out, and I think that if the mere presence of an alternative view is troubling to some, that is more their problem than mine. Am I wrong about that?
Nice post Joe. I hope you do get your G5 and can use it a little more than a few hours a year. Many times friends who are on windows computers try out my mac and because a lot of little things are done differently from how they are done on windows they come away from it frustrated. You have to get used to a new OS and learn a few of the tricks before you can really appreciate it.
Well put Jack. It really takes a lot of time to appreciate the nuances. It’s when you start digging deeper asking the computer to do more that the real differences become apparent. Anyone can start a program on either system, but when you start to want to change settings that’s when windows and linux become a major pain in the ars*. Oh, and you don’t have to switch off all the annoying “help” that gets in your may on the mac. Now that really drives me nuts!
Thanks Joe. I don’t know that anyone would disagree with you on the marketing that Apple puts out. That’s always been a negative point for Apple – they don’t know how to come out and show people the real positives about Macs.
I’d wager to guess that if you ever get a chance to really use the Mac (more than a few hours a year), you’d convert. Maybe not religiously.
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Price is never an issue with me when it comes to quality. I know it is to many. But, as has been mentioned before, the price you pay in wasted time and security updates more than evens it up for me.
Give the platform a chance. Yeah, you may find some stuff that you can’t do on the Mac (I haven’t yet) and you may even find something that Windows does better (I haven’t yet) but overall, your computing experience will be drastically changed for the better.
All in all, it’s nice having you here. If this forum were only Mac fans, most of us would not have much to say! – JvW
“RV, I think you’re showing a bit tooo much animosity toward Joe here, after all , he has at least been straightforward and owned up to the size of his network (cough, is that indicative of other things, and if so, proportional or inversely proportional)”
Keep in mind The Bo’ster,
I have been reading this guy’s posts since he first arrived here and my animosity towards him was something he earned in spades early on.
” I think that if the mere presence of an alternative view is troubling to some, that is more their problem than mine. Am I wrong about that?
“
I don’t care about you posting here as long as what you say has basis in fact and first hand experience. Your comments to date regarding the Mac can hardly be considered factual or in the least bit objective. You seem unwilling to actually put your money where you mouth is and start getting some serious multi-platform experience under your belt like myself and others already have. Until you do, you are in no position to be making comparisons and surely not capable of posting anything useful or insightful about the Macintosh.
I will believe this G5 purchase when I see it, but if he is man enough to finally admit how wrong he was about the Mac platform, I will be the first to welcome him into the family.
The first step in becoming a Wintel zealot is to learn the fine art of denial. As long as you have your denial level cranked to 11, you will never be able to see things clearly enough to accept the simple fact that the Mac under OS X is light years ahead of Wintel in practically every way. You will be hard pressed to find any objective multi-platform experienced user who would argue that point.
Whatever amount of time PC users spend or don’t spend dealing with patches and virus infections is still more than any of us on the Mac would be willing to accept as normal.
I think the comment someone made earlier about PC user’s fear of changing the name of their hard drive speaks volumes as to the reality of life on a Windows PC. This is far more telling than any of the denial filled opinions they may choose to post here.
Cheers.
I have been reading this guy’s posts since he first arrived here and my animosity towards him was something he earned in spades early on.
Don’t worry, I’ve been reading these posts a lot longer than I’ve been writing them, and you have to admit, he’s mellowed. He’ll come ’round yet! I do think in this situation you’re overreacting though. I didn’t think he was being too unreasonable, and this little spat isn’t helping anyone’s cause. If you still think he’s just trolling, ignore him.
Btw, what’s happened to Ron and Lisa? now they were fun!
btw, thx for the formatting info!
Nothing to say on this topic as it’s stating the obvious, but I’ve been reading your comments.
Hello everyone.
I quote from the Times article:
“Microsoft originally thought that because Windows was a personal computing operating system, it would not be connected to a network, so such security against outsiders was not needed. Mac and Linux were always multi-user systems.”
I disagree with that statement. We have a dozen Windows laptops that we check out to teachers at the university and having spent hours shutting off Windows messenger and plugging open ports and Lord knows what-all, I believe Microsoft thinks the only place people will use XP is in a corporate environment.
While Macs come with many safety features turned on by default, Windows does not. It seems to me that it would make sense for Microsoft to create a Windows installer that asks you how you plan to use the OS and install it with the appropriate settings.
But that’s just me.
Since you got through a whole post without swearing RV, I will reward you with a civil question: When have I been unfactual or unobjective? I try to be clear on facts, and separate them from my opinions, which more often than not I express to be educated on their merits. I routinely admit that osX is better than windows, and that Apple hardware works better than wintel. I am not an “apple is crap” troll. I am an “apple is good stuff, why don’t they make one that more people can buy, expand their user base and increase acceptance so that there ARE switchers? troll.
Unobjectivity might be defined by the way you treat anyone who ever posts a complaint about Apple hardware or software. You have gone as far to imply that these people (including me) are liars, based on your many years of absolutely trouble free experience, which I don’t doubt. Objectivity and being the center of the universe don’t go together, apparently.
Finally, “Until you do, you are in no position to be making comparisons and surely not capable of posting anything useful or insightful about the Macintosh”. Au contraire. There is no prerequisite for posting here. Blowing money on multi platform systems would be a silly one if there were to be, since anyone who has been 100% mac recently wouldn’t qualify.
“Don’t worry, I’ve been reading these posts a lot longer than I’ve been writing them, and you have to admit, he’s mellowed. He’ll come ’round yet! I do think in this situation you’re overreacting though. I didn’t think he was being too unreasonable, and this little spat isn’t helping anyone’s cause. If you still think he’s just trolling, ignore him.”
Yeah, you could be right. I think he may have started to see the light recently. Perhaps it is time to ease up on him for now. ;o) Still, I have a very low tolerance for FUD as you have seen, and have a real problem with people continuing to post it in spite of plenty of evidence to the contrary.
Also, I should mention that there have been several posts made recently by someone using my initials. Although I am flattered that my presence here was enough to warrant impersonation, it is still kind of disturbing to see an impostor speaking on your behalf. I generally do not use profanity in my comments. :o/
Btw, what’s happened to Ron and Lisa? now they were fun!
Hee hee. They were definitely entertaining. Problem with them is that they never responded to any of the counters to their posts. They just spewed and spewed and never really engaged anyone in debate. At least I have to give McConnel credit for attempting to argue his point, although I still find him running off when you nail him with proof he is wrong. ;o)
Cheers.
I just realized that my 1:58 reference to boeings posts should have included ScottS as well. Credit where it’s due etc.
Joe,
Your statement regarding “alternative” views is VERY refreshing. I have used and supported PCs in the past, but my own business is an all Mac OS X house, for many of the reasons stated here. Like you, I am running only 4 machines, so I really don’t have much to add that’s valid about running a Mac based office vs. PC in terms of cost from my own company, but in prior employment where I did support both platforms, we saw significantly less support requirements for Mac than PC, and this was before internet connectivity was so proliferated and became such a factor. Bottom line is you can definitely call me a Mac user, and when I see a forum like this, I skim the (usually) predictable Mac user posts, and read the dissenting, or at least alternative views. I see in your posts that your mind is not closed, and that you are continually evaluating the situation — a very good thing. As a Mac user, I do the same thing. All I can say is that if you ever do come to this side of the fence, you will find that the on-line commenting (sorry, but ofen obnoxious) Mac community represents only the tip of the iceberg to the rest of us Mac users, and most of us are very happy and loyal to our platform, but see no reason to denigrate those who don’t use the platform.
We look forward to a slow migration to Macs in your office: try replacing just one of your machines, when the time merits, with a Mac, and see first-hand how the experience is for more than “a few hours a year.”
I don’t have time right now to go hunting through your previous comments that were plain wrong in regards to the Mac, but I will be happy to start saving them now for future reference. :o)
“There is no prerequisite for posting here. Blowing money on multi platform systems would be a silly one if there were to be, since anyone who has been 100% mac recently wouldn’t qualify.”“
My point is a valid one. Without personal first hand experience with the Mac, you are in no position to be making comments about the system. If we want to read what the Wintel centric press has to say about the Mac and Os X, we need only visit CNET or any other MS tool sites. We don’t really need you to remind us of the FUD here. There is nothing valid in those opinions. They are not based on fact but only on emotional biases towards a system perceived as some kind of threat to their/your world.
I’m sorry you are not willing to make an effort to better educate yourself about the cost saving advantages to owning a Mac network. Since you seem to place such a high value on the up front costs of everything you buy for computing, I would imagine that someone in your place would be the first to appreciate how much more cost efficient a Mac network is than a PC network of similar size.
Oh well. You of course are free to do what you want, but I still hold to the premise that you are at a distinct disadvantage here since the majority of us with network experience have used both platforms for many, many years and are speaking from personal experience with both. Not parroting opinions we read from others who in most cases are equally ignorant to the reality of the Mac side of the debate.
Cheers.
RV I don’t intend to run off. It’s the internet for chrissakes, it’s impossible to be embarrassed. If I did not respond to an allegation in a 3 day old thread it is because it’s too damn old, not because I am ignoring it. Heck, make that a 1 day old thread, the way this site is pumping out news stories.
This is like an episode of the Twilight Zone. Hurry up and start fighting, you two!!!!
Maybe tomorrow Dave.
btw aapl up 3% today. If we can keep MDN from posting another news story about how great it is, it might get to 29 like it is supposed to.