“It appears those ‘I’m a Mac/I’m a PC’ commercials have struck a chord with someone at Wilkes University. The Pennsylvania institution announced today that it plans to get rid of all its Windows-based computers in the next three years and replace them with Macs,” Dan Carnevale writes for The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Carnevale writes, “The university has an enrollment of less than 5,000, and any student who wants to use a PC will have to bring his or her own. The Wilkes computer labs, which now house 1,700 computers of both varieties, will be made all Mac in the $1.4-million switch. In a news release, Wilkes officials said they preferred Mac technology to that of the PC and pointed out that the Macs are less susceptible to computer viruses. Macs still work with Windows programs, so students will have something more to do on the computers than play with iTunes.”
Full article Think Before You Click™ here.
MacDailyNews Take: “Macs still work with Windows programs, so students will have something more to do on the computers than play with iTunes?” Looks like dumping Windows and going all-Mac struck a chord with someone at The Chronicle of Higher Education. Expect more of this Stockholm Syndrome behavior as the Windows hegemony crumbles before their eyes.
For the record, Apple Mac has a bountiful software library to explore: start here. Check it out before you resort to slumming it with Windows and Windows-only apps. By the way, Apple Macs can run more software than Windows PCs. Period.
Related articles:
Apple Macs can run more software than Windows PCs – October 30, 2006
Apple Mac’s 2007 market share climb will dumbfound almost everyone, create mayhem in PC market – September 08, 2006
$399 for Windows Vista Ultimate?! (Hint: Get a Mac) – August 29, 2006
Dude, you got a Dell? What are you, stupid? Only Apple Macs run both Mac OS X and Windows! – April 05, 2006
Defending Windows over Mac a sign of mental illness – December 20, 2003
Well, at Wilkes University there does not appear to be a problem with education.
“We just suffered through a >denial of service attack launched from a group of Macs run by Mac lovers that >didn’t think they needed protection.”
I call BS on that one. You would be lucky with a typical distributed denial of service attack to even determine what platform the attacking machines are running on. (Half the time you can’t even figure out where it’s coming from, which is what makes it so hard to defend against). To say that you know something about the personalities and decisions of the attacking machines’ owners is laughable.
“… have more to do than play with itunes…”
Whoops. That was a bitchy comment!
A lot of people, who should know better, have not kept up with the developments at Apple. To these people, the Mac is still a toy. While there is some excuse for people who don’t take an interest in IT, Dan Carnevale expresses an opinion which implies he thinks he knows what he is talking about.
The Chronicle of Higher Education needs to find a new tech writer and Dan Carnevale should go back to school…
Interesting discussion going on in the comments on that site. Just for reference here is what I posted there in response to someone belaboring under the Security through obscurity myth and more:
“39. Sorry Carlo, the security through obscurity myth has been busted. For reference please see:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/18/technology/circuits/18POGUE-EMAIL.html?ex=1172293200&en=90ed121dea4379e9&ei=5070
Excerpt:
“But the conclusion is clear: Linux and Mac OS X aren’t just more secure because fewer people use them. They’re also much harder to crack right out of the box.”
Market share may contribute in a very minor fashion to Mac Security but the real reason there are currently Zero (0) Viruses in the wild for the Mac is because they are INHERENTLY more secure. And anyway even if this myth was true, the end effect would be that Macs would ALWAYS be more secure because even if the Mac Market Share quadrupled (4X) it would still constitute only 20 percent or so of sales (installed base would be much higher though because Macs generally stay more current and are used for a longer time) For an interesting read on this point and more please see:
http://daringfireball.net/2004/06/broken_windows
As for crashing, I would like to know if you are using the 7 year old classic Mac OS or the current version of OS X? While it is not impossible to crash OS X it is extremely rare. I am on OS X pretty much constantly and only get about 1 Kernal Panic a year, if that (a Kernal Panic is what constitutes a OS Crash on the Mac). Individual programs might lock up a little more frequently, I would say I get a program locking up maybe once every 3 to 4 months. But that can be easily gotten out of by a force quit and the OS is not affected at all.
Congratulation Wilkes U! You and your students are gonna love your new set up. If I was a prospective student, a forward thinking move like this would definitely be a positive influence for me in considering attending your institution.
— Jack A Feb 22, 10:42 PM “
I couldn’t help myself, I added another comment
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“40. I would also like to comment on your perception that virus writers want to create the biggest stir they can; while this may have been true in the past, and for a certain small percentage of virus writers it still may be true today, the vast majority of the viruses currently being written do their best to NOT let it be known that they are even there. They are focused on creating “bot-nets” of thousands of “zombie” computers that are under control of someone else through the internet without the actual owners knowledge or permission. The “zombies” are then used for profit by sending out spam or in protection-racket-like scams that utilize the threat of a Denial of Service (DOS) attack on key dates to extort money from online merchandizers. It is an uncomfortable thought and one that I think the majority of windows users push to the back of their mind and do their best to forget, but if you are on a windows computer there is a chance that right now, this very moment, your computer is being used for criminal activities without your knowledge or consent.
From this perspective, your original premise might actually be correct after a fashion. From a capitalistic standpoint it is much more cost and time effective to write a virus for the Windows platform because the system is so insecure that it is easy to do and because of it’s market share, it presents a giant target. In addition there are many windows users that have become so “numbed” by the incredibly large volume of attacks that they make no more than a feeble attempt at security and may not even care if their computer is being used to commit crimes as long as they get to use their part of it without any problems.
If, however, a virus writer was one who DID want to create a stir, I think it could be safely assumed that he would create a much larger one by writing the FIRST Mac OS X self propagating virus than by writing the 114,756th windows virus.
At any rate, for anybody reading this and considering whether they should get a Mac (which can run Windows if required) or a Windows only machine, the key thing that they should notice is that people are not arguing about IF viruses are currently an absolute, 100% non-issue for Mac Users, they are arguing about the possible reasons WHY this is the situation. OS X has been out for around 6 years or so now. That is a plenty long to establish a track record and currently the score stands at something like:
Windows: 114,000 (or probably more by now) Viruses
OS X: Zero (0)
And I hope I am not coming across as smug or fanatic. I am not trying to be. I am just trying to help and with the prevalence of computer usage in the world today, telling people about an obviously better and very viable option to the less-than-ideal status quo is one way I feel I can try and make the world a little bit better.
— Jack A Feb 23, 12:58 AM”
@Jack A
Congrats Jack, I just read your post over at Wilks and would have to say it is a well written and very intelligent piece.
“Not to mention that only a Mac will run BOTH Windows and OS X.”
We get it. The best new feature of the new Macs is that they run Windows.
Thanks Winmacguy. And WindowsUser, I think the point is that Macs run EVERYTHING. lol
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