“Jan. 15, 2002: In an email to Microsoft employees Chairman Bill Gates announces a ‘Trustworthy Computing’ initiative and declares: ‘Our products should emphasize security right out of the box.’ Number of security fixes for Windows XP since then? One hundred,” Stephen Manes writes for Forbes. “When it comes to security, you can trust Microsoft to reveal three serious flaws in its operating system every month. Now it’s getting into the antivirus and antispyware businesses its gaffes singlehandedly created. Great. So much malware is directed at Windows that an unprotected PC directly connected to the Net will crash within ten minutes. But you can defend yourself. Here’s a ten-point plan.”
One of Manes’ points is, “Mull Macs: Although Apple has issued dozens of fixes for Mac OS X, the system has proven far more secure than Windows. At least for now viruses and spyware are virtually unknown in Macland. But don’t let a Mac give you a false sense of security: It won’t protect you against, say, e-mail tricksters phishing for your credit card number.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The interesting thing is that if you took the Mac option and dropped Windows, you could reduce the “ten-point plan” to the 3-5 of Manes’ points that involve simple common sense.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Microsoft tries to turn its own security flaw into commercial gain – February 25, 2005
Cybersecurity advisor Clarke questions why anybody would buy from Microsoft – February 18, 2005
Microsoft’s Gates espouses homogenous operating system environments for better security – February 07, 2005
Windows’ mounting security problems make some consumers eager to purchase Macs – January 03, 2005
Windows Media songs and videos found to carry Windows malware payloads – December 30, 2004
Anzae/Inzae worm affects all Windows versions after 3.1; Macintosh unaffected – December 28, 2004
Unlike Windows users, Mac OS X users surf the Internet without a care in the world – December 28, 2004
Multiple unpatched Windows holes crop up; Windows systems compromised within minutes in experiment – December 24, 2004
Windows spyware mess is out of control, get a Mac and surf with impunity – December 21, 2004
New Microsoft Internet Explorer exploit spoofs Web sites on fully patched Windows XP systems – December 17, 2004
Microsoft may charge extra for Windows spyware protection software – December 16, 2004
Detroit Free Press: Windows malware problem getting worse, it’s time to get a Mac instead – December 16, 2004
Sick of spyware, adware headaches? Get a Mac and surf the Internet freely – December 13, 2004
Mossberg: Windows PCs plagued with problems, Apple’s Mac is ‘rock solid, elegant and affordable’ – December 09, 2004
Security expert: Don’t use Microsoft Windows, Office, Outlook, Internet Explorer – December 09, 2004
Security test: Windows XP system easily compromised while Apple’s Mac OS X stands safe and secure – November 30, 2004
Sick of spyware, adware infecting your PC? Don’t fret, just get a Mac – November 01, 2004
Microsoft: The safest way to run Windows is on your Mac – October 08, 2004
Spyware plagues Windows users while Mac users surf Net with impunity – November 01, 2004
Ballmer blames Windows users for not upgrading systems as Microsoft’s biggest security problem – October 22, 2004
Windows users line up to pay for spyware removal; Mac users surf Web with impunity – October 18, 2004
Microsoft: The safest way to run Windows is on your Mac – October 08, 2004
Windows users’ security woes spark interest in Apple’s secure Mac OS X – October 06, 2004
Windows desktop monopoly threatened by secure, safe Apple Mac OS X – October 04, 2004
Even Bill Gates can’t avoid Windows malware; Mac users surf the Web freely – October 03, 2004
Cyber-security adviser uses Apple Macintosh to avoid Windows’ security woes – September 27, 2004
Information Security Investigator says switch from Windows to Mac OS X for security – September 24, 2004
Mossberg: Apple iMac G5 ‘powerful, affordable, virus-free with better, more modern OS than Windows XP’ – September 23, 2004
USA Today: people are switching from Windows to Mac because of security issues – September 21, 2004
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Security is top priority in Apple’s Mac OS X – September 12, 2004
Millions of Windows PC’s hijacked by hackers, turned into zombies; Macintosh unaffected – September 08, 2004
Mossberg: Dump your Windows machine and get an Apple Macintosh to free yourself of spyware – August 25, 2004
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Windows ‘Scob’ virus designed to steal financial data, passwords; Macintosh unaffected – June 26, 2004
Gartner: Worms jack up the total cost of Microsoft Windows – May 07, 2004
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SmartMoney: Long-suffering Windows users can only dare to dream of Mac’s ease-of-use – February 12, 2004
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Gates: Windows ‘by far the most secure’ system; tries to use ‘Mac OS X secure through obscurity’ myth – January 27, 2004
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New York Times: Mac OS X ‘much more secure than Windows XP’ – September 18, 2003
Wall Street Journal’s Mossberg on making the switch from Windows to Mac – September 18, 2003
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Is Mac OS X really inherently more secure than Windows? – August 26, 2003
Chicago Sun-Times columnist: Windows ‘many holes in its security’ but ‘none of my Macs have ever been affected – August 26, 2003
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Virus and worm problems not just due to market share; Windows inherently insecure vs. Mac OS X – August 24, 2003
An IP is an IP is an IP is an IP.
Oh yeah, and Windows Rules. Weeeeeeee
Here’s my 10 point plan to protect myself and my computer.
1. Get a Mac.
2. Turn on the Firewall.
3. Surf with impunity.
4. Relax.
5. Relax.
6. Relax.
7. Relax.
8. Relax.
9. Relax.
10. Relax.
Done.
Here’s my ten-point plan for secure computing:
1. Get a Mac
2. Do frequent backups using CCC
3. Forget 4.-10.
BSOD,
you beat me!
I like BSOD’s plan.
MDN Magic Word = “worked”
As in: Getting a Mac worked wonders on my computing experience!
Bloodomen,
really nice way to talk to black people, maybe you shold go to compton and say that out and let’s see how well you would last? I mean people like you just make all mac users look crazie! I’m shocked that MDN content managers didn’t even try to eidt that out
SHAME ON YOU MDN!
We rarely “edit” out comments as we believe in free speech. We also believe in people’s basic intelligence and that they can make up their own minds about “Bloodomen’s” post above without our trying to “hide” it from them. “Free speech,” to us, means pretty much everything, not just what a certain individual or group wants to hear or feels comfortable hearing.
We do edit out inane posts such as “first post!” and other off-topic posts from time to time. We also replace a certain word with “fsck” when we have time, as it is an MDN tradition.
We feel no shame for leaving “Bloodomen’s” post above. We would feel some sense of shame if we had deleted it without allowing the MDN community to see it and make their own judgments about its content and the person who posted it.
Actually… not shame on MDN. You know why? It makes the writer of that comment look like the ignorant moron that he is. He’s also a PC lover, not a Mac guy… read his parting shot. MDN chooses not to censor their boards because it allows the idiots to advertise their stupidity… fine by me.
I can’t believe bloodomen’s post is still here. MDN Webmaster, get that crap off of here! Trolling is one thing, but posts like that are totally uncalled for and have no place here. I’m assuming they haven’t see it yet…
My 10 point plan for WindBlows XPeePee
1.Get a PC
2.Get the updates
3.Use a Firewall Router
4.Surf with impunity (yes using IE)
5.Beat down Mac Users in Doom III (Haste)
6.Beat down Mac Users in Doom III (Haste)
7.Beat down Mac Users in Doom III (Haste)
8.Beat down Mac Users in Doom III (Haste)
9.Beat down Mac Users in Doom III (Haste)
10.Beat down Mac Users in Doom III (Haste)
Or better yet
1. Get a PC
2. Load Linux
3. Sit with thumb in ass.
4. Skip 5 through 10.
“Ones” as in “Just because you primarily use a Mac, It doesn’t mean your one of the chosen ones.”
Windows < Mac
I disagree with leaving it up, but hey, it’s your board. In my opinion there’s no more content in that post than in someone simply posting “first post”.
ndelc,
Read the post from the MDN Webmaster made 5 minutes before yours above. It might help.
This is not a free speech issue. What, exactly, does Bloodomen’s post contribute to the discussion? If anything, it detracts from the discussion of the topic at hand. There is no free speech issue involved in deleting grafitti that defaces your house.
I feel qualified:
Free speech: The right to express any opinion in public without censorship or restraint.
Thanks, MDN.
NoMacForYou, I thought you were a windoze fanboy until your last line. Or are you just really confused? I agree that windoze is the lesser of the computer platforms.
magic word: here, as in “You saw it here first, NoMacForYou really does secretly desire a Mac.”
Tigerman,
Actually, that post tells us a lot of information:
Bloodomen is a PC user, not a Mac user.
He is an ignorant, racist bigot.
He thinks Bill Gates is a Jackass and should be punished.
For some reason this article enticed him out from under his rock.
I say leave it up. I’m not about to call people “Nigger” just because I read a post that contained the word on MacDailyNews.
Tigerman, are you American? I notice a growing desire to censor views that aren’t “politically correct” in more and more Americans lately, so this is why I ask.
MDN, we’ve seen it, you can delete it now.
What are you afraid of “treadlightly?” Please be specific. Why does MDN have to take it down? Are you afraid it will turn everyone who reads it into a racist? Or are you afraid that everyone who reads it will see racism and turn away from it? Are you afraid of words? Have you been sucked into the “politically correct” idiocy?
What are you afraid of “treadlightly?”
You’re right, MDN. Leave it up and let it burn brightly for all to see.
Free speech sometimes hurts, but it’s a hell of a lot better than the alternative.
Michael,
I’ll tell you my nationality if you tell me yours. As an example of my thinking on the topic, though, I have no problem with keeping your post here, even though you used the same word. You had something to say. The earlier poster was not engaging in speech in any meaningful sense of the word.
RE: TreadLightly
Go into Sherlock and lookup “<” in the dictionary.
It wasnt meant as the “Greater than / Less Than” Symbol.
http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~frank/BerkeleyGroks_Raskin.htm
The question might not be, what did the Bloodomen post say, but rather, what did the Bloodmen post foster?
I am an American, Tigerman.
As am I.
simple1, I believe that if our resident redneck were to visit Compton and repeat the moronic drivel he spewed here, the result would most likely be that he would hurt some people’s feelings and they would judge him to be just the shallow racist low-life that the rest of us judge him to be. Outside of the movies, not everybody in the dangerous corners of L.A. is a gun-totin’ gangstah. Some are just people trying to get by and trying to avoid the gun-totin’ gangstahs as well as the racist dumbasses like Bloodojerk.
Leaving Bloodman’s post serves as a reminder that racism continues to exist. Deleting the post would allow folks to believe the pleasant myth that we’ve left all that prejudice stuff behind in the past. It’s better that we know reality, so that we have a chance to deal with it constructively and make things better.