James Derk, co-owner of CyberDads, a computer repair company, answers tech questions for Scripps Howard News Service.
Question: In a recent column you said that 95 percent of all viruses and spyware are aimed at Internet Explorer, so I decided to do away with IE. Ha! Easier said than done. I am 80 and not of the computer generation. I don’t even know what a default browser is.
I got the instructions to get rid of Explorer, but have to have something. Do you know of an ISP that does not use Explorer for anything? Is Explorer automatically tied to Windows? Do I have to get an Apple when I’m still fighting Windows and start over?
Answer: Good morning and good question. Not all viruses are aimed at Internet Explorer but rather aimed at Windows. To answer your question, you can just leave Internet Explorer alone. It is a fundamental part of Windows and pretty hard for a layman to remove.
So what you should do is keep your current Internet Service Provider, dial in to connect then use IE to download the excellent Firefox browser from http://www.mozilla.org. Once installed, just dial your ISP and launch the Firefox browser to do your Web browsing. Firefox is free, fast, nimble – frankly a better browser than IE. (If you previously installed it, the latest version was posted last week so it may be worth a second download.)
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: So, Derk writes, “Not all viruses are aimed at Internet Explorer but rather aimed at Windows” and ignores the question posed to him, “Do I have to get an Apple when I’m still fighting Windows and start over?” Why does Derk ignore the Apple Mac solution to the problem? Could it be because he owns a computer repair company? Instead of explaining that if the questioner switched to Apple Mac, he’d already have Safari, a far more appealing, feature-laden, and safe browser running on Apple’s secure, powerful, and fun Mac OS X, Derk consigns the 80-year-old to live out the rest of his days using the Internet in misery with Windows. Derks bad advice? Get Firefox and continue with Windows which Derk admits suffers from virus problems. Is this sound, logical advice? If the user doesn’t “even know what a default browser is,” then how much “starting over” would the user have to deal with if he switched to a Mac? “Get a Mac” would have been the proper advice for this user. Derk failed to give this user the best advice, even though the user’s question actually contained the answer.
For our Windows-only friends, information about how to smoothly switch to Apple’s safe, secure, powerful, and fun Macintosh with Mac OS X can be found here.
I agree, perfect candidate for a Mac.
My grandfather used an ancient Mac for well over 10 years for word processing and when he decided to go online, we set him up with an iMac. He was by no means a computer expert, but he could do what he needed (AppleWorks, email, web). I can’t imagine the frustration he would have experienced with Windows.
Melanie…
Your grandfather is very fortunate to have you in the family !!
what else is new 😐
My Mum (as in a Grandmother now) uses an iBook after starting out on a Classic.
It is great to have an OS that allows me to archive an application and send it to her, and for her to have a doubleclick instal. (further to this is not having to update her software, thanks to updater…)
Grandparents love mac!
-Mikinoz
I think that MDN is looking too far into this. I don’t know if telling a 80 year old man to switch would of been the best idea in this case.
I will admit I do switch at least one to two people a month and the flooding of viruses is helping switch more people.
Can you tell me how to “smoothly” move 10 years’ worth of mail that’s archived in dozens of Windows Outlook Express 6 folders to an equivalently structured folder hierarchy within any current Mac email program? And without losing the emails’ attachments?
No, I didn’t think so. 🙁
Want to move to Mac???
To transfer your Outlook folders, take a look at software from http://www.littlemachines.com
Want to move to Mac, but….
Just looked up MacDoc’s link and, if what they say is true, that’s a big $10 solution.
Tough call though; $10 or suffer with Windows.
Though… I do sympathize with the guy in the article. I think the Firefox idea may be the right one in that case. Not only is there the “old dogs and new tricks” thing, but I am also a believer in that the simple solution is sometimes the best.
Its just a shame the old boy didn’t start witrh a Mac. Which in my experience is what a lot of the older generation are starting to do now.
the question: Do I “have” to get a Mac and start over.
The answer to that is “no” you don’t have to get a mac and start over.
The question was answered fairly and accurately. MDN is looking too much into it.
It could have been put in there as a suggestion, however.
heard it all before…
When I see a new person like this, I just set them up on a Mac, give some basic instructions and come by every 6 months to update their OS, throw on some free games etc.
I don’t hear a peep out of them, they are just happy.
I’m not getting paid, so I don’t want any problems.
These others want $$ for ever service call, and there are so many viruses and spyware that people are getting turned off to computers.
Dell is reportedly helping M$ because their problems are affecting their sales.
What does one do with 10 years of mail?
My Mom (78 yrs old) is on an eMac and just raves about how much easier things are now that she is on OS X. Things just work and are easier to do on a Mac. It should be classed as elder abuse to recommend they get a Windows PC. For the little extra they might pay more at the start they will more than get the value back in lack of headaches. Also older computer purchasers generally like to get with one thing, get used it it, and stick with it. From that viewpoint the longer service life of the Mac is a big plus.
Macdoc and Donco: Thanks, but if you read my message, and you also read (and comprehend) the Outlook2Mac info, you’ll see the problem: I specified Outlook Express 6, which is the latest version of OE, OE being the mailer that comes with Windows and Internet Explorer. OE is also the mailer that the majority of Windows users — particularly non-corporate users, the group most likely to consider switching to Mac — have relied on for at least a decade (it’s “free”).
On the littlemachines.com page to which you kindly provided a link, Outlook2Mac’s info states: “Compatible with Microsoft Outlook 97, 98, 2000, 2002, and 2003 (3).” Those are versions of Outlook that are sold with the costly Microsoft Office package. Even heavy-duty users of Microsoft Office for Windows often avoid installing Outlook because Outlook Express works fine and it’s smaller and faster.
Glancing further down the Outlook2Mac page you should also note: “Outlook Express is NOT supported.”
This is apparently because none of the available Mac mailers “smoothly” or even roughly imports files from the most commonly used Windows mailer, Outlook Express. Why? I dunno. But if they did, I wouldn’t need to spend even $10 for gimpy software like Outlook2Mac.
So, here’s the point: Kneejerk parroting of glib marketing slogans regarding the ease of switching to Mac is irresponsible and, well, braindead. Unless you’ve worked extensively with both Macs and PCs (as I have since my first 100-day Mac in ’84, before which I used Apple ][+ and CP/M machines along with the DOS boxes), you have absolutely no basis for evaluating the situation. It is not an automatic call by any means, and even less so when the user in question is 80! (My totally alert and capable 77-year-old mom who’s been a Mac user since System 3 is now struggling with and annoyed by having to learn OS X on her new Mac. I can only imagine the difficulties an 80-year-old Windows guy would go through in converting everything!)
And the cocky arrogance of ignorant Mac users (“Tough call though; $10 or suffer with Windows”) is old, old, condescendingly ridiculous, and old. No, I don’t suffer with Windows — it’s just goofy computers we’re talking about here, not war or disease or poverty — and no, I’ve never been hit with a virus or a security breach in 24 years of daily online use. (I don’t leave my car keys in the ignition while dashing in to the 7-11, either.)
I understand and share your enthusiasm for Macintoshes, but they aren’t a religion and they aren’t a political party, so leave the hucksterism to the pros in those two fields. The more you erroneously inflate buyers’ expectations (as Apple always has), the more you do a disservice to the entire community of computer users.
So, back to my original question: Can anyone tell me how to “smoothly” move 10 years’ worth of mail that’s archived in dozens of Windows Outlook Express 6 folders to an equivalently structured folder hierarchy within any current Mac email program? And without losing the emails’ attachments?
No, I didn’t think so. 🙁
Just switched my brother and am in the process of convincing/switching my mom. With the new iMac, convincing is getting easier and easier! The irony of it all is that I can still convince people to switch even when I demo using my G4 iMac which suffers from overheating and freezes occasionally. No more iTunes visualizer for me 🙁
Want to move to Mac, but….
No, I didn’t think so. 🙁
My girlfriend bought am iDildo so she could fuck me in the ass. This turns us both on. The only problem is that for several days afterwards, this straight guy’s butt is sore. We go slowly, use tons of lube, and employ a small iDildo. Is there any more advice you can give, other than the standard “go slow, use tons of lube”?
Pegging Causes Pain!!!!!!
If your APPLE iDildo is made out of a porous material like latex or vinyl, PCP, you might want to try switching to a nonporous, more expensive, and less irritating silicone iDildo. Also, with a silicone iDildo, you can use a non-water-based lube�in other words, something greasy. Some guys find that oil-based lubes ease the way. (Attention MacHeads: Oil-based lubes dissolve latex iDildos and are NOT to be used for penis-in-butt-style Computer Buying.)
Hope that helps.
Want to move to Mac, but….
I still wonder why you would want to move 10 years of email…..
Jeeze…. do you still read that stuff ??
Every couple of months or so…. I delete email that from my inbox….. Nothing is that important to keep !!
I would suggest you go through those dusty old folders, download whatever pictures (sent) to the desktop..so you can archive them… and delete the rest….
Honestly, I cant imagine anyone saving 10 years worth of email…
But, even if you do…. I wouldnt let that get in the way of switching to Mac…
Remember…. you can switch to a Mac…. and keep your PeeCee…. At least you wont lose your email !!
Just a thought
That’s the ticket. Use your old PC, isolated from the internet, as an old email archiver.
Finally, a valid use for a PC.
To: Switch2Mac? Yeah..Haha..Right..
Ahhhhh……..the blissfull ignorance of Windoze users………………
“the blissfull ignorance of Windoze users”
What do I have to be ignorant about?
Come on, give me the reasons why I am Ignorant..
Some folks – especially the ones that won’t even use their ‘real username’ – maybe deserve their problems, especially those that chastise others for doing EXACTLY what they do in their one-page diatribes.
Ah, shaudenfreude.
And what kind of insensitive bastard [
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” /> ] won’t HELP his sweet old mamma in understanding the SIMPLE differences between MacClassic and MacOSX? She makes you a fine potroast one Sunday afternoon, and you patiently update her knowledge before you finish that potroast in a mega-beefdip before heading home.
And finally, what kind of packrat saves ten year old emails? Are they love letters? Or evidence?
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Okay. One more thing. If anyone actually used a Mac AND Windows for a ten year period. Why would they use Windows for email? And why wouldn’t they forward all emails – personal or work – to a Mac, just for ‘backup’? You know, just incase you ever became one of those extremely rare Windows users that has one of those legendary Windows meltdowns people keep whispering about.
Anyway, good luck with your endevours.
Want to move to Mac, but…
Someone was kind enough to repond, and you ripped them a new one and made baseless accusations about knee jerk parroting of marketing…..
Bad form. MacDoc was trying to help, and from the responses it seems that several other people did appreciate the information.
I would guess that if someone did know how to transfer the mail, and realized the difference between Outlook, Outlook Express, Entourage and etc, they probably won’t be willing to share the info with you now.