Re: Why must Apple draw me towards them?
 

That's exactly what i'm saying. As Mac's market share increases, the security risks for mac users will increases as well. If you are a hacker, you want to make as much trouble for as many people with as little effort as possible. Why spend the time working on an OS that only 7% of machines are using when you can hit the OS that holds 91% of the market? (MS's rep for being the "Evil Empire" hasn't helped either) Linux will probably be the most secure in the future do it its extremely small, yet devout, user base.

Re: Why must Apple draw me towards them?
 

Congratulations on the new computers; they both sound good (I'd take the Mac, though, but that's just me)... and if you need Windows, then more power to you.

I don't believe that Mac or Linux are secure simply because they don't have the large market share. Both are based upon Unix, so my following example will apply to both:

Most servers are run off of Apache, which is Unix based, and only the minority use the Windows server edition (I don't have numbers, sorry). Despite this, most hackers hack Windows servers. Why? Because it's easier. Apache just isn't worth it to them due to the effort, not the lack of usage.

This also applies to Macs and Linux. Once they have a larger market share, sure, there will be more attacks, but they won't ever equal the amount on Windows.

Re: Why must Apple draw me towards them?
 

Lets say Mac someday owns 90% of the market. There will be more successful attacks on Macs than on Windows. I won't get into which has better security, because, honestly, I don't know, but there will be much more effort to attack macs and more success with larger numbers of users. One reason that Windows may appear to be not secure is that with more people working on hacking windows, there are more successes, and it gets hacked faster than other systems, thus appearing weaker.

Its really hard to say one system has better security than another. Its sort of like what causes a person to be how they are? Upbringing or genetics? Its highly intermixed and at some times can be either or both and its uncertain which it is.

Re: Why must Apple draw me towards them?
 

True. I'll agree to Mac having security issues if it gets a large market share (but I don't believe it will have as many, but they'll still be there). I like to believe my Ubuntu distro is more secure than Windows, though... It makes me feel superior.

Re: Why must Apple draw me towards them?
 

Although the small market share is part of it, the UNIX backbone of the operating system is the main reason why Mac and Linux are secure.

Here's a few examples of why mac is secure: (found on this website)

1. OS X is built on UNIX. UNIX was a multi user system with a security architecture built into it at the beginning. WINDOWS came from a single user architecture with security and multi user capability as an after thought.
2. UNIX had networking built into it from the beginning, again in Windows this was bolted in at a later date.
3. Windows built Internet Explorer into the O/S at a very deep level, and allowed code execution within the browser. In OS X the browser is a completely separate application, its not a integral part of the OS. IMHO, this is the fundamental screw-up Microsoft made, as they created so many hooks into which someone can attack the OS.
4. In earlier Windows everything ran as the system user, so the capability to compromise an entire system was easier. (see reason 1)
5. Microsoft’s backward compatibility mantra doesn’t do them any favours as to run old software they need so many old APIs, all of which can have holes in them.
6. OS X has no registry. IMHO, second fundamental flaw Microsoft made.
7. OS X asks for your password before allowing you to run new software or install something. Not fool proof, but at least fool resistant.

Although I am a Windows user and have never owned a mac, I have to admit that mac does have a much more secure backbone to the operating system.

However, with a larger user base, I'm sure that viruses would develop, although probably not as many as for Windows.

Re: Why must Apple draw me towards them?
 

NickE: exactly what I haven't found the words to say. Thank you.

Re: Why must Apple draw me towards them?
 

In my opinion, macs are just more intuitive to use. But that is just me. Best bet for anyone is to try it out and see if it works for you. Personally I use Quicksilver and very rarely use the dock or my mouse for that matter.

Dual booting under that latest version of Bootcamp is quite nice as long as you have a defragmented hard drive. The fact that Apple does not ship with a defrag utility is a real pain to me. And I don't care if it claims that HFS+ never needs to defrag.

The cost argument really bothers me. Earlier today I spec'd out a Dell notebook to the same specs as to the white Macbook. Guess what the price difference was? About a $100 to Dell. Yeah it is cheaper from Dell. When I first went to buy my computer I didn't want to buy from Dell, to me they use cheap parts and I like my computers to last. (Just my opinion) So I was looking at Sony and Lenovo, those computers spec'd out the same came out to either at or above Apple's price. Apple computers are made of relatively high quality parts. Yes you could buy cheaper components for a lot less but I don't like downtime due to broken parts.

Just my opinions.

Re: Why must Apple draw me towards them?
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-dgNQgcz2k


Yeah, it's probably worth about as little as mine :)

All computer makers have problems, so personal perception of quality is probably as good a criteria to go on as any other.

Re: Why must Apple draw me towards them?
 

I don't think a Powerbook quite counts as "low end." :cool:

That said, my roommate runs 10.5 on a 4 or 5 year old G4 iBook (which is quite low end). It's pretty slow, but if he put another gig of RAM in it, it'd run absolutely fine.

Re: Why must Apple draw me towards them?
 

Yeah, the issue with thermal grease in the mac book pros would of been another good one. Though I am a firm believer in if you package something well it will be perceived as high quality. Course there are always flaws in quality control, something about real world and such.

Im honestly surprised that this thread hasn't turned to flaming like most such threads do.

Re: Why must Apple draw me towards them?
 

I think you have stumbled onto something there. Windows is just that: Windows while Macs are an OS and the hardware. They have more control over the environment and feel of the computing experience. I wonder how different it would be Apple allowed clones.

Oh, and the lack of flaming comes from one thing: We are discussing/arguing the topic and not the person. Who says you can't have a mature conversation on the internet?

Re: Why must Apple draw me towards them?
 

I got a Dell XPS M1530 in January with specs literally identical to RyanN's Macbook pro.

I spec'd a MBP at the time, and it was $3200 for the same configuration that I got from Dell for ~$1700