Talk Story

Windows Linux or Mac?

POSTED BY: Haze
UPDATED: Saturday, April 8, 2006 06:42
VIEWED: 42858
PAGE 7 of 20

SNEAKER98

Friday, March 17, 2006 7:20 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by retrovertigo:
Quote:
Originally posted by sneaker98:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20060306/bs_nf/41948

Beware, OSX users. You were safe in a small market because the hacker response to OSX was "I don't care?". Apple hasn't had to deal with the widescale bombardment that windows has; we'll see how it does in comparison now that folks seem to think it's now the better option.

We live in interesting times! :)

"I do the job... and then I get paid. Go run your little world."
-Malcolm Reynolds

That contest was pretty much a farce. They gave all the hackers local SSH access to the machine. Hackers trying to get at your Mac from the outside won't have this level of access, unless you're an idiot and give them your username and password, in which case you're gorram moron and deserve to get hacked.

Doesn't look like it to me. Can you link me to an explanation?

A few interesting things came out of that article, regardless of wether it was a farce or not. For instance, the browser was set by default to run compressed files automatically? Sounds like a lesson Microsoft learned, but Apple hasn't.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1932659,00.asp
Another very interesting article. Mac had more software flaws than Windows in 2005, albeit windows had 5 or 10 more critical flaws than Mac.

Remember, folks. Pretty != Flawless and Secure. The OSX has yet to be properly tested in the real world.

"I do the job... and then I get paid. Go run your little world."
-Malcolm Reynolds

RETROVERTIGO

Friday, March 17, 2006 7:41 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by sneaker98:
Quote:
Doesn't look like it to me. Can you link me to an explanation?

Certainly:

http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/03/06/1446207

The Mac will see its share of bugs in the next couple years, as it gains market share. But it has a LONG way to go before it approaches Windows territory. I know how to protect a computer, so I'm not all that worried.

Now, if only my blasted MacBook would arrive! It's been delayed at least another week.

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SNEAKER98

Friday, March 17, 2006 7:44 PM

You may; but does Apple? ;)

They really, really don't have a lot of experience in a widescale OS market. If the ipod's were hooked up to a wireless all the time, then yeah. But they're not, and thus aren't attackable on that scale.

OSX will be Apple's proving ground. And it's already starting out badly.

"I do the job... and then I get paid. Go run your little world."
-Malcolm Reynolds

SIGMANUNKI

Friday, March 17, 2006 9:17 PM

Grew up using dos and later moving onto windows only after much kicking and screaming; never was I comfortable with that.

After a bit, I found Linux and was happy but still not totally comfortable.

Then came OpenBSD. HOME!!!

Also, since I got my Mac mini, I've been using OSX on and off. Find it pretty good. MUCH better than windows ever was/will be (IMO that is).

At any rate, I'm sticking with Apple from now on. Even though they're switching to Intel (I feel gutted ).

----
"We're in a giant car heading into a brick wall at 100 miles/hr and everybody's arguing about where they want to sit."
-David Suzuki

SIMONWHO

Friday, March 17, 2006 10:21 PM

You forgot one:

Windows: Star Trek
Linux: Doctor Who
Mac: Firefly

SILVERSAMURAI

Friday, March 17, 2006 11:34 PM

Mac user here. No way would I return to windows full time.
I was born and raised on windows, but man, I got so sick of fixing things all the time.

I love my 20" iMac.

RETROVERTIGO

Saturday, March 18, 2006 7:13 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by sneaker98:
You may; but does Apple? ;)

They really, really don't have a lot of experience in a widescale OS market. If the ipod's were hooked up to a wireless all the time, then yeah. But they're not, and thus aren't attackable on that scale.

OSX will be Apple's proving ground. And it's already starting out badly.

"I do the job... and then I get paid. Go run your little world."
-Malcolm Reynolds

They may not have been as concerned, but that recent bug in Safari really seemed to have lit a fire under their asses. It's unlikely that they'll continue with that same level of complacency given their expected rise in market share.

SNEAKER98

Saturday, March 18, 2006 7:38 PM

I feel it might be prudent to clarify where exactly I stand with regards to operating systems.

It might suprise you to know that I consider Windows to be the lesser of three evils. While I do know all the "tricks" that keep me safe (basic ones such as not to open silly emails, and not so basic ones such as registry scanning and msconfig), I'm aware that that's not good enough for the general public.

I have, however, discovered an excellent OS that works well for me: Solaris, from Sun Microsystems. Though I haven't had the time to fully explore a *nix environment due to work and classes, I'm absolutely loving it. It's currently on a dual boot on my laptop.

"I do the job... and then I get paid. Go run your little world."
-Malcolm Reynolds

CITIZEN

Saturday, March 18, 2006 7:46 PM

Well out of interest I'm currently trying out Ubuntu. I'm currently replying to this thread while running it (just the Live CD, so it's a bit slow, I'll try the full install at some point). The graphics and text look good and the usabillity is better than other versions (like Red Hat).

One day I'm really going to try and get that OS I keep saying I'm going to write running...

More insane ramblings by the people who brought you beeeer milkshakes!
No beast so fierce but knows some touch of pity. But I know none, and therefore am no beast.

RETROVERTIGO

Saturday, March 18, 2006 8:00 PM

Solaris isn't just any *NIX. It used to be UNIX. It's a proprietary branch of the old AT&T SysV version of UNIX. Never ran it on my personal machine, but the computer science dept where I went to college ran a SunOS (Solaris without the GUI) server I used to SSH into to do homework for my C programming class.

As far as Windows being the lesser of three evils, I don't get the logic. If all you care about is user-friendliness, then I get it. I've never experienced problems moving/deleting files in Linux or Mac because the OS still thinks the file's in use. Hell, the simple fact that the number one solution to most problems is to reboot the computer is proof positive that Windows is completely inadequate when it comes to resource management.