It’s hard to describe the freedom of using a system with no malware known to have spread. It’s a major cultural difference that admittedly, sometimes causes Apple users to do stupid things - and get away with them.
DON'T HAVE MAC OS X FOR SKYPE WINDOWS
“Just as Windows users have become accustomed to 140,000 viruses, Apple users have become accustomed to none. “Why, then, are there no viruses for OS X?” There are millions of OS X computers out there,’ Martin writes. The reason most often touted is Apple’s lack of critical mass, but that argument has been beaten to death. There are no viruses on OS X - not a single one. “Viruses don’t have to be a fact of life. Whether it’s in your large corporate environment or your Uncle Bob’s computer at home, it all takes time,” Martin writes. Anyone who works hands-on in the security field has his own experience spending countless hours removing viruses and spyware, or becoming adept at formatting and reinstalling (or laying down a new image), patching, immunizing, and so on. No, they don’t have automatic updates, and no, they may never understand what a firewall is. By that, I mean that you can’t assume everyone who owns Genuine Windows is running XP with Service Pack 2, which has some improved security features - because there are a few hundred million people out there still running Windows 2000, 98, or something else. Either it’s the perceived security that is thought to be better in OS X, or it’s the documented lack of security in the Windows world. “What’s fueling Apple’s growth, besides the infamous iPod halo effect? Security. Unit sales of Apple Computer’s OS X based computers grew by 43% in the past quarter, over the same time last year - in business terms, that’s incredible growth,” Martin writes. Alternative environments like Apple and Linux are finally catching on. We’ve come to accept the countless virus infections, the Trojan that steals passwords, and the loss of an average user’s identity as inevitable and acceptable, and it makes me wonder if we’re taking our users down the right path,” Kelly Martin writes for SecurityFocus.
“After your identity has been stolen, your bank accounts compromised, 53 critical patches and 27 reboots later, when will you decide that you’ve had enough? It’s so easy to become accustomed to technology and all its failings, where viruses, trojans and such have become a fact of life - for Microsoft Windows users, at least.