I'm switching to Linux/Windows

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  • Reply 81 of 157
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Placebo

    Well, that's what they get for not protecting themselves. If you're smart, there isn't much danger in the Windows world. Firefox is a good start.



    Looks like your girlfriend, frustrated with Windows insecurity, switched right at the dawn of Mac viruses...




    I'm not sure whether I should laugh at you or suggest professional help.



    An example of how shitty Windows security is: In late December my WinXP-Pro laptop did what it does best: crash. I reinstalled the OS, put up the Windows firewall, and went online to get the antivirus program and updates and whatnot. 20 minutes later, I notice strange files in the c: \\ drive. Yep, I managed to get a virus in under 20 minutes, on DIAL-UP and with a FIREWALL. Welcome to the mess that is Winblows. Have fun in hell.
  • Reply 82 of 157
    Quote:

    Have fun in hell.



    Well, as long as you think you're in Heaven...
  • Reply 83 of 157
    I use WinXP-64bit and Avast! antivirus. Best Windoze experience so far. WinXP-32bit has bollocks for a code base, if you can, use 64bit WinXP and AMD chips for chrissakes. I only use WinXP32bit for playing NeedForSpeed:MostWanted (pirated version ). Avast antivirus is free, fast, slick, and not full of total bollocks (my favourite word today) like Symantec and the like. http://www.avast.com/



    edit: if you have legit software you won't need winxp32bit at all, winxp64bit compatibility layer is really quite good, as long as you stick to major hardware manufacturers they have 64bit drivers. video drivers (ati, nvidia) not a problem at all...
  • Reply 84 of 157
    No, she is frustrated with the Windows unproductivity. Insecurity is only a tiny issue of the thousands.



    Yeah, I really wonder when the Macs will start to see considerable virus attacks. Been working with Macs for over 13 years now, only seen one virus and one macro virus in my MS-Word and I never had virus protection installed.
  • Reply 85 of 157
    placeboplacebo Posts: 5,767member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by blade

    No, she is frustrated with the Windows unproductivity. Insecurity is only a tiny issue of the thousands.



    Yeah, I really wonder when the Macs will start to see considerable virus attacks. Been working with Macs for over 13 years now, only seen one virus and one macro virus in my MS-Word and I never had virus protection installed.




    SURE, YOU'VE NEVER GOTTEN A MAC VIRUS, but that doesn't set precedent for you never getting a Mac virus, especially with a few working concepts, if not actual viruses, coming out last week.
  • Reply 86 of 157
    And I'm really puzzled as to how you know you never got a virus, if you never had any type of virus-protection installed to check for viruses.



    Maybe you know that you never got any virus, but... a lot of Windows users don't know either.
  • Reply 87 of 157
    placeboplacebo Posts: 5,767member
    There really haven't been any viruses for Mac OS X until now.
  • Reply 88 of 157
    But OS X hasn't existed for 13 years, which is the timeframe he specified when he said he's been using Macs and never got any viruses (apart from some Macro thing which he knew was a virus without an anti-virus installed.)



    I'm pretty sure there were more viruses than just a macro virus for OS9 out there. But I digress...
  • Reply 89 of 157
    bladeblade Posts: 13member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Placebo

    SURE, YOU'VE NEVER GOTTEN A MAC VIRUS, but that doesn't set precedent for you never getting a Mac virus, especially with a few working concepts, if not actual viruses, coming out last week.



    If you reread my previous messages, I said I got two viruses in 13 years. One was a real virus that I caught on time and didn't do any harm (this was back about 10 years ago), the other was one of the MS-Word macro viruses that converted .doc files to template files. These were the two occurences in my 13 years of having a Mac. My girlfriend's virus blocker on her PC last weekend reported to block an average of five viruses a day, and this was just two days I saw vs. my 13 years. She also had to reboot twice because her machine locked up on her (Windows 2000). And even if viruses will start to come in at any time, I still saved 13 years of not having nearly any and saved money for not paying for virus blocker/scanner programs.



    Again, viruses are a very small concern of why I have (and still sticking with) a Mac. I like a dependable machine with a wide range of possibilities. When I need to test something in Windows I just start up my Virtual PC Windows 2000 Pro right on my Mac desktop and test all my websites (I'm a web designer) before I hand them over to my customers. I also like the fact that you can just start a terminal window and get to the core (UNIX) system and fix problems if you run into one.



    Can't beat to have a Mac, a UNIX and a Windows machine for the price of one (and a half, Virtual PC still costs you a few bucks), but when you also consider networking these, the maintenenace and constant upgrading costs for three machines with software, this is also considerable time, money and energy savings for anyone.
  • Reply 90 of 157
    bladeblade Posts: 13member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Gene Clean

    But OS X hasn't existed for 13 years, which is the timeframe he specified when he said he's been using Macs and never got any viruses (apart from some Macro thing which he knew was a virus without an anti-virus installed.)



    I'm pretty sure there were more viruses than just a macro virus for OS9 out there. But I digress...




    Because about once a year I download a demo version of a virus scanner and run it on my machine. The two occurances of viruses I had also had clear signs of being there, the one virus I had did something with the floppies if I recall correctly it didn't allow to copy files on them or something of that nature. Again, I downloaded a demo version of Norton and cleaned it. These demo versions expire in about 30 days but I never ever paid for a full version and, again, never again caught any viruses with the demo versions.



    Also, I never heard of anyone else having a virus in any of the previous versions. I also know several people with Macs and they also never had virus issues.



    And again, we are comparing this with the PC world where viruses are pouring in daily, so I believe arguing about this subject is pointless.
  • Reply 91 of 157
    I guess this is a non issue now since apple released the new updates...



    Quote:

    Apple on Wednesday released Security Update 2006-001, available for download through Software Update system preference pane and from Apple?s Downloads Web page. The update addresses a recently reported exploit that left Safari users vulnerable to malicious shell scripts; corrects a vulnerability to Apple?s Mail software and also changes the way iChat handles file transfers to help prevent the ?Leap-A? malware.



    This security update closes the Safari hole, and also provides safety for iChat and Mail users by providing the applications with more information for those applications? download validation.



  • Reply 92 of 157
    a_greera_greer Posts: 4,594member
    People here dont seem to understand that viruses are the least of windows problem.



    The problems are worms and trojens



    Worms: what you get when connected to a network but doing nothing, just being in the wrong broadcast domain at the wrong time with inadiquite protection, thus why a SO/HO router is a must now-a-days for windows ussers on broadband, it handles the WAN broadcasts and doesnt pass them along to the PCs on the internal LAN subnetwork(s) these are largly used to create botnets for spamming or DDOS attacs



    Trojens: malicious code that becomes resedent by fooling the user about what it really does, some call it social engineering. Lately it has become cool to call the great majority of these things "adware" or "spyware" because it is used to generate ads and feedback to the server about your computer use patterns.



    the problem is 51% OS 49% userbase



    I have used windows ME, 2k pro and XP virus free for ~7 years.
  • Reply 93 of 157
    ryaxnbryaxnb Posts: 583member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Gene Clean

    Please stop talking nonsense. Installing SuSE requires knowledge of C programming?! Since when does popping a DVD in the drive and clicking OK need Unix shells?



    Installing SuSE has got to be the easiest installation of an OS ever. You just click OK damn it. How much easier does it have to get? Read your mind?



    Here's a shot by shot installation of SuSE. Now be a good sport and tell us where do you see the requirement for Unix shells and C programming there.




    Having installed and ran Mandriva Linux without any knowledge of C, and not once having ran a shell script (though I do use Terminal regularly, mostly for stuff that is unnecessary/could be done in a GUI, and almost all of the rest is from an instruction manual, step-by-step. Easy.
  • Reply 94 of 157
    ryaxnbryaxnb Posts: 583member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Splinemodel

    It's foolish to assume that everything you'll want to do in Linux will be available from something as pleasant as YAST. Beyond that, I've installed Linux on quite a few machines, and NEVER has there been a time where it was incident free. I'm also going to pan GNU in general for cultivating a ridiculous policy in nomenclature. Sometimes, it's easy to find what you want. Other times, it's a fuckng nightmare, since the names of gnu apps are often extremely cryptic and truncated. I'll gladly type in four more characters when I want to run the damn thing if it helps me remember what it does.



    Moving on, you'll undoubtedly need to create shell scripts, config scripts, and plenty of other scripts. You will probably also need to compile some tools, hence the knowledge of C. If you aren't using these tools, I question your motive for going with Linux.




    dude you are out of it. You don't need to know C to compile C. I don't see when you need to create Scripts, as I never have. Installation, when your hardware is compatible (that's a big WHEN,) is trouble-free. Configuration is moderately difficult. You may occasionally need to configure by hand. Even the config utility isn't the easiest to use. However, I managed to pull it off. Then comes printing. Pain in the ass to configure, then pretty easy after that. Overall, Moderately difficult to fairly easy when setting up, Fairly easy to Slightly difficult for everyday usage.
  • Reply 95 of 157
    ryaxnbryaxnb Posts: 583member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Placebo

    Well, that's what they get for not protecting themselves. If you're smart, there isn't much danger in the Windows world. Firefox is a good start.



    Looks like your girlfriend, frustrated with Windows insecurity, switched right at the dawn of Mac viruses...




    I thought AutoStart was the dawn of Mac viruses...

    Seriously though, Macs got it built in. Still, some easy steps to security

    1. Install updates

    2. Turn off "Open 'Safe' files after downloading"

    3. Inspect all suspicious files or e-mails in ClamXav, or better yet, Virex

    4. Scan weekly with ClamXav or Virex

    5. Turn on your included firewall

    6. Never go to suspicious websites. Always use reliable porn websites

    7. Never use P2P. If you must download only .avi, .mov, .jpeg, .png, .mpg, .mp3 and virus check every file with ClamXav or Virex.

    8. And That's It!



    If you follow those instructions (you may substitute NAV for Virex,) you are about 99.9% secure.

    Even only following 1, 2, 6, 7 and thinking before opening you're 95% secure.
  • Reply 96 of 157
    zengazenga Posts: 267member
    Placebo! Please let us all know your experience with windows "vista", I know you're a beta tester, maybe a bunch of us will follow your switch!



  • Reply 97 of 157
    a_greera_greer Posts: 4,594member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Placebo

    SURE, YOU'VE NEVER GOTTEN A MAC VIRUS, but that doesn't set precedent for you never getting a Mac virus, especially with a few working concepts, if not actual viruses, coming out last week.



    True, but the differance is the atitude of the vendors to security, lets look at an example.



    Loads of people complain because malicious code can run outside of the browser sandbox in IE with a high level of privilage (i.e. ADMIN access): MSs response, "yea, that is a feature, not a bug, we cant be botherd to make sure that the browser-baced Active x stuff is sandboxed properly" Essentially a big fat fuck you to the computer community



    Apple gets a ton of complaints because Safari can execute code with high levels of privalage outside the sandbox in the form of "auto download/setup widgets" for dashboard, the resopnse: "Oh shit, that is a problem, we will patch it within the week, sorry!"



    See the differance?
  • Reply 98 of 157
    sunilramansunilraman Posts: 8,133member
    sandboxes are fun
  • Reply 99 of 157
    costiquecostique Posts: 1,084member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Placebo

    I've decided that I'm too much of a hardware/games freak to keep on living with an overpriced system and an undersupported (game-wise) operating system.





    Quote:

    So long.



    Good luck \
  • Reply 100 of 157
    vox barbaravox barbara Posts: 2,021member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by costique



    Good luck \




    Hey costique how are you doing?
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