“If you use a Windows personal computer to access the Internet, your personal files, your privacy and your security are all in jeopardy. An international criminal class of virus writers, hackers, digital vandals and sleazy businesspeople wakes up every day planning to attack your PC,” Walter S. Mossberg writes for The Wall Street Journal. “And the company that controls the Windows platform, Microsoft, has made this too easy to do by carelessly opening numerous security holes in the operating system and its Web browser. Even if you install the recent Service Pack 2 update to Windows XP, you will still be vulnerable.”
MacDailyNews Take: Get ready, this gets really good…
Mossberg writes, “The single most effective way to avoid viruses and spyware is to simply chuck Windows altogether and buy an Apple Macintosh. Apple’s operating system, Mac OS X, is harder for the criminals to infect, and the Mac’s market share is so small that hackers, virus writers and spies get little thrill, financial gain or publicity from attacking the platform. There has never been a successful virus written for Mac OS X, and there is almost no spyware that targets the Mac. Plus, the Mac is invulnerable to viruses and spyware written for Windows. Not only is it more secure, but the Mac operating system is more capable, more modern and more attractive than Windows XP, and just as stable.”
“Macs are as good as, and often better than, Windows PCs at doing the most common computing tasks: Web browsing, e-mail, word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, photos, music and video. The Mac version of Microsoft Office can handle Windows Office files with ease, and it produces files that Office for Windows handles effortlessly. Apple’s computers are also gorgeous,” Mossberg writes.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: One question looms: will the world’s richest man now cancel his Wall Street Journal subscription? Mossberg, a highly respected reviewer and tech writer known for his straight, truthful articles, has really done it this time! The storm clouds have been brewing for awhile, as you can see from our related articles below, but Mossberg’s article turns a sun shower into a category 5 hurricane headed straight for Redmond. Even though Mossberg concedes that “switching platforms is expensive and scary to people” and proceeds to give advice for those afraid to pitch to Windows in the dumpster, Apple will sell more Macintosh computers to switchers/adders because Mossberg dared to write the truth. For our Windows-only friends, information about how to smoothly add a secure Mac OS X machine to your computing arsenal can be found here.
Newsweek magazine calls Mr. Mossberg “the most powerful arbiter of consumer tastes in the computer world today.” Time magazine calls him “the most influential computer journalist.” Rolling Stone calls him “the most powerful columnist in technology.” The Washington Post declared Mr. Mossberg “one of the most powerful men in the high-tech world” and “a one-man media empire whose prose can launch a new product.” And the New York Times calls him a “protean critic of the new economy’s tools and toys.”
If you’d like to send Mr. Mossberg an email, his address is: mossberg@wsj.com
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Is Mac OS X really inherently more secure than Windows? – August 26, 2003
BusinessWeek’s Haddad gets it wrong; thinks low market share spares Macs from viruses – August 28, 2003
Shattering the Mac OS X ‘security through obscurity’ myth – August 28, 2003
Fortune columnist: ‘get a Mac’ to thwart viruses; right answer for the wrong reasons – September 02, 2003
Wall Street Journal’s Mossberg on making the switch from Windows to Mac – September 18, 2003
New York Times: Mac OS X ‘much more secure than Windows XP’ – September 18, 2003
Columnist tries the ‘security through obscurity’ myth to defend Windows vs. Macs on virus front – October 1, 2003
Gates: Windows ‘by far the most secure’ system; tries to use ‘Mac OS X secure through obscurity’ myth – January 27, 2004
Mac OS X has no viruses; what’s wrong with Windows? – February 11, 2004
SmartMoney: Long-suffering Windows users can only dare to dream of Mac’s ease-of-use – February 12, 2004
Spyware, adware plague Windows users online; Mac OS X users surf freely – April 19, 2004
Gartner: Worms jack up the total cost of Microsoft Windows – May 07, 2004
Windows ‘Scob’ virus designed to steal financial data, passwords; Macintosh unaffected – June 26, 2004
Tired of patching patches to patch Windows patches? Writer suggests getting a Mac – August 03, 2004
Mossberg: Dump your Windows machine and get an Apple Macintosh to free yourself of spyware – August 25, 2004
Millions of Windows PC’s hijacked by hackers, turned into zombies; Macintosh unaffected – September 08, 2004
Security is top priority in Apple’s Mac OS X – September 12, 2004
Windows XP worm speaks to users as it deletes their files; Macintosh unaffected – September 13, 2004
University of Chicago recommends all students patch Windows at least once a day – September 14, 2004
USA Today columinst angry about Windows viruses, adware, spyware – September 15, 2004
That’s right people, WAKE UP!
i love the smell of napalm in the morning.
Come into the light PC users, and you will see why we are fanatics! I have had three friends (PC users all) who have bought PowerBooks (and iPods) in the last few months who are thrilled with the user experience. I’m predicting a nudge in the ole 3% market share this year…. Kudos to Mossberg!
Right right right!
I personally know of 2 people that have switched from Windows to a Mac in the last month and another that is seriously considering it. It’ll take time, but everyday more and more people are gradually waking up.
more please
The only thing about articles like this is that the only people who read them are people like us, those who read technology news like some read the sports section. I dare anyone who read this article to find someone on the street who did. The conventional wisdom (aka common ignorance) is still that Windows is the system to have if you’re in business and a Mac is a cute home computer.
I think Mossberg made a secret deal with Jobs back at that Digital D conference.
Mossberg asked Jobs why Apple doesn’t highlight it’s security relative to Windows, and Jobs punted the answer. (See Alwayson-network.com or WSJ.com for article.) Since then, it seems Mossberg has taken every chance, almost weekly, to highlight OS X’s security. And this is the furthest he has gone!
A Mac user riding in a Windows user’s car, stuck in a traffic jam:
Driver: Wow, this traffic is really slow. It’s going to take forever to get through this.
Passenger: Why don’t we just turn here and go on that back road? It goes a little bit out of the way, but there’s no traffic, so it will be faster.
Driver: But if all of these cars were on that road, it would be just as backed up!
Time for Bill Gates to join Fredo on a fishing trip
Maybe somebody should send a copy of this article to Thurrott?!!
While overall a wonderful article, the comment about switching to Macs being expensive is unfortunate. If you’re looking to buy, most Macs are not more expensive for what you get.
Thanks Walt. However, from my experienc, OSX 10.3.5 is flawless on stability. MUCH more so than my XP sytem, which by the way, is no longer connected to the internet; just not worth the trouble.
Oh yeah, did I mention that OSX 10.3.5 is flawless. I cannot express in words how wonderfully stable this OS is.
Apple’s marketing strategy is brilliant. Just because you don’t see it, can’t figure it out, or can’t find it in your “Marketing 101” text book doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist.
Rather than screaming “BUY THIS!” or “THEY (MS) SUCK!”, Apple is allowing MS to strangle itself while at the same time Apple sits on the edge, in a position not quite totally out of sight. This allows people to discover, on their own, the wonders of the Mac. Granted, this does not net the windfall of quick cash that we are accustomed to seeing in these greedy capitalistic times, but it gives Apple a better guarantee of a longer and more prosperous future,
Apple doesn’t want to be seen as the MS killer, but more as a gentle place to land once MS beats the crap out of you. To do this, requires a very calculated approach.
I already have my Mac, and for me the whole “MS vs Viruses Tragedy” is now a source of entertainment. Perhaps I’m evil, sick or twisted, but for my PC-usin’ friends, I enlighten them to an option to get out from under their troubles, and if they don’t want to take my advice to buy a Mac that is totally up to them. In which case, let the entertainment begin!
w00t! I’ve known this, like many of you, since I was a small child, heck, some of you ARE small schildren, it’s about time the world got back on their feet and used something that wont kill them.
Good article, but too bad he had to throw in that “security through obscurity” myth.
When will these people (“journalists”) understand that disseminating a Mac OS X virus would be the crown jewel of the cracker’s hat? “The Mac’s market share is so small that hackers, virus writers and spies get little thrill, financial gain or publicity from attacking the platform.” Are you kidding me? The biggest thing they could probably ever hope to achieve is the awe and admiration of their peers for being the first to do this.
Mac User,
You own a fairly new PC and several pieces of productivity software, a few games and a few pieces of security software. You can’t use any of it if you switch. You have to buy a Mac, a lot of the productivity software, some only at upgrade prices, a game or two, if you can find one you like, and zero security software.
Then you have to reinstal the OS on your PC and completely isolate it so you can safely play the games you do like. XP is great for solitare when the computer is safely isolated.
It is expensive to switch.
When the Mac installed base gets near 30% there will be hacker attempts. We will all laugh at them but if you build it (installed base) they will come.
Walt Rocks!!!
a) Stop smoking
b) If you choose to continue smoking, smoke a light cigarette and exercise regularly (you’ll still die sooner, but you’ll feel better along the way).
Al….
If you hang on to OS 9.x…. there will be no malware attacks in the future… that is true “security thru obscurity” for you…
However, those who choose OSX will be safe, too..
Why ? …
Because, in order for any malware to run, it must get permission to do so by the root user….
You’d have to be a bonehead PeeCeer to allow that to happen !!
And it seems that those up in Redmond, and their lemming-like customer base, hasnt figured that out yet !!…
The question is…. how long will it be before they all notice that while theyre re-installing the latest flavor of that virus-magnet they call an OS …. Mac users are smiling and enjoying their computing experience…
“Macs “just work” …. is more than a slogan
I have delt with Walt. He is fair and evenhanded. He gave his opinion on other stuff he did for my company …. not mentioning names whatsoever (it was not always so favorable, but if I am honest, it was always pretty much on target).
This is big … what he says here.
I trust him.
Dr Dude:
Light cigarettes are no less dangerous than normal ones – you just smoke more and inhale deeper to get the desired effect, and the cancer will develop deeper in the lungs�
Mac112
Thus the humor in making the analogy to keeping Windoze but jumping through (futile) hoops to make it safe.
your site and insight are wonderful! thanks for being the excellent source of information that you are. however, as one who lives on the southwest florida gulf coast (punta gorda … ground zero for “charley” to be precise), go easy with those hurricane figures of speech
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Dear Aryugaetu,
I wouldn’t say ‘brilliant’.
Until Mac produces a consumer computer without a built-in monitor and with a couple of slots for flexibility, many people all over the world just can’t (or wont) afford the jump.
A good friend of mine would be prepared to pay more for a Mac – a few hundred �s more maybe, but not a thousand.
He, like other Wintel users has already got a monitor and he wants a computer where he can update the graphics card.