Goodbye Windows!

I have been really antsy about switching from Windows to MAC because Windows has failed me every single time, I've always got some major issue with Windows.

So I finally decided to go ahead and switch to MAC and I've chosen the White MacBook though I want to customize it and I know nothing about MAC. Can someone please provide some help?

Oh, and what problems do Mac's typically run into? What type of security should I get?

Well I am new to Mac also, 6 months and I only use iAntiVirus but the system has never once found a single security threat or anything like that at all, pretty cool if you ask me!

I've been using a Mac for a year now and will never go back. Security? - I enabled Firewall Logging and Stealth Mode in Security > Firewall > Advanced.

Most opinion seems to be that you do not need a security suite running. Viruses are made to attack Windows. Opening one on a Mac will not infect it. The only danger is passing it on to another Windows user. You are very likely to hear if a virus aimed at Mac is released because it will be so unusual that it will be big news. I plan to run iAntivirus once a year just to be sure - maybe I'll do it next year though.

I've not had any problems - beautiful, reliable, fast, starts up quickly, picks up the router immediately, occasionally drops the signal (usually on starting).

Some people recommend running Onyx - runs maintenance scripts, cleans up caches, repairs permissions, etc. Others say it is not needed. I personally run it every 1-3 months (just in case). Later builds of OSX (10.5.4 onwards?) are supposed to run maintenance scripts automatically while you are on your Mac (they were originally designed to switch on during the early hours for machines running 24/7), but when I've checked, mine haven't run.

i started with Macs in mid 90s and have yet to get into the malware protection scene, but i guess it will come in time. Good idea to set your Mail attachments to not download automatically thereby not acknowledging that your address is a good one for selling on in mailing lists. For switchers there is good stuff here Welcome and have fun.

iRana said:

I have been really antsy about switching from Windows to MAC because Windows has failed me every single time, I've always got some major issue with Windows.

So I finally decided to go ahead and switch to MAC and I've chosen the White MacBook though I want to customize it and I know nothing about MAC. Can someone please provide some help?

Oh, and what problems do Mac's typically run into? What type of security should I get?

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I can't think of any particular problems that Macs are prone to, or perhaps I'm not sure how to describe them. Pick up a utility called Onyx. It has a series of tools that should be run periodically to keep things in shape.

Virus scans aren't really necessary. I'm considering a free one to monitor my applications folder in case I do find something, but malware is pretty rare and hard to find.

Just look through your system preferences and play around with things until your computer is customized to your fancy!

There are no viruses that can infect OS X on their own. You will be 100% secure if you use the stealth setting on the built-in firewall and don't get tricked into installing any programs that aren't from trusted sources.

The most common problem I've had with Windows is crashing and blue screens with whistling noises. >.< It's awful. Nothing like this happens to Mac's? I'm so excited I just hope it's not like Linux- where I heard you have to type in commands for everything.

iRana said:

The most common problem I've had with Windows is crashing and blue screens with whistling noises. >.< It's awful. Nothing like this happens to Mac's? I'm so excited I just hope it's not like Linux- where I heard you have to type in commands for everything.

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You might occasionally get what's called a "kernel panic". The really simple explanation is, it's the equivalent of the blue screen on Windows. But it usually isn't serious and doesn't happen often.

iRana said:

The most common problem I've had with Windows is crashing and blue screens with whistling noises. >.< It's awful. Nothing like this happens to Mac's?

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Wow! That's awful.

Be assured that it is possible to run Windows without this happening. I've been using Windows for over 10 years -- Win98, Win2K, WinXP -- and have never had a single BSOD. The BSOD can be caused by any number of things -- from a dodgy BIOS to bad device drivers to disk corruption to bad hardware. Reinstalling Windows might fix the problem. But if it doesn't, have someone troubleshoot the problem.

iRana said:

I'm so excited I just hope it's not like Linux- where I heard you have to type in commands for everything.

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Where in the world did you hear that? From Steve Ballmer? It turns out that Linux and OS X have a lot in common, and Linux isn't that hard to use these days. Don't take my word for it, though. You should at least give Wubi a try right on your Windows machine (but fix your Windows problems first). Go to the Wubi web site. If you try Wubi and decide you don't like it, then you can uninstall it like any other Windows program.

Bottom line: If you misuse your computer, whether it be Windows, Linux, or a Mac, you will have problems.

If you want a virus that you claim macs don't have, head on over to piratebay. They will be more than happy to turn your mac into a 'bot'.. No, don't do that.. I have to agree with Juan. I hate defending windows but this is what happens when people don't think of protecting their machines. I don't even want to talk about system maintenance, let's not go there.. it's a nerd thing as they call it. Let's blame MS for our porn scavenger hunts. We need to protect ourselves. That even means checking certificates to ensure the software your installing is from a credible source before you type in your password. I don't think winXX will ever be OSX but the customizations you can do with winXX still makes it a viable alternative.. (and the rest of the world still seems to think so)..

My concern is, I do protect my computer and it still crashes. I simply check email from family and friends, and log in to my Myspace. Downloads come from iTunes and I make sure to run scans 2x a day (depending on how much I've used my computer that day) and the protection is the highest rated. After 10 years I've become overly anal about computer safety.

Buuut still blue screens one time I got 4 BSOD in a 1 hour period. Processors stop working, things freeze up, my taskbar shifts/disappears . And I don't purchase rubbish computers either I've used almost every type of computer with good amounts of gigabytes and what have you. Same old story every time it's not so much an issue of infections anymore but the crashing and slowness is insane. I don't know if I just have bad luck or if Windows is really this crappy.

Ugh ):

bulletwitch said:

If you want a virus that you claim macs don't have, head on over to piratebay. They will be more than happy to turn your mac into a 'bot'.. No, don't do that.. I have to agree with Juan. I hate defending windows but this is what happens when people don't think of protecting their machines. I don't even want to talk about system maintenance, let's not go there.. it's a nerd thing as they call it. Let's blame MS for our porn scavenger hunts. We need to protect ourselves. That even means checking certificates to ensure the software your installing is from a credible source before you type in your password. I don't think winXX will ever be OSX but the customizations you can do with winXX still makes it a viable alternative.. (and the rest of the world still seems to think so)..

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There are no viruses on Pirate Bay or elsewhere that can infect OS X. A couple trojans embedded in pirated software, yes. By no means a virus. Trojans cannot self-replicate nor insert their code into other software. And... in the case of OS X... they cannot do ANYTHING harmful without your EXPLICIT permission via the pop-up authorization boxes. The only way you are going to get a trojan is by running software from dubious sources and being stupid enough to allow any action from any app that asks you if it can do it.

iRana said:

My concern is, I do protect my computer and it still crashes. I simply check email from family and friends, and log in to my Myspace. Downloads come from iTunes and I make sure to run scans 2x a day (depending on how much I've used my computer that day) and the protection is the highest rated. After 10 years I've become overly anal about computer safety.

Buuut still blue screens one time I got 4 BSOD in a 1 hour period. Processors stop working, things freeze up, my taskbar shifts/disappears . And I don't purchase rubbish computers either I've used almost every type of computer with good amounts of gigabytes and what have you. Same old story every time it's not so much an issue of infections anymore but the crashing and slowness is insane. I don't know if I just have bad luck or if Windows is really this crappy.

Ugh ):

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I used to build my own PCs from scratch with top-end components that had reviews demonstrating their reliability. While Windows has its issues and is largely inferior to OS X in many ways, my experience has convinced me that much of the problems with crashing and instability has less to do with Windows itself than it does with lousy, cheap hardware and poorly-written drivers. And unfortunately, that description aptly applies to most off-the-shelf PCs. Some companies extensively test their hardware with other devices and components that may get used with their hardware and strive to ensure they all play together well before going to market. Others don't because going the distance IS expensive and far too many people don't understand that one motherboard (for example) really isn't necessarily just as good as any other and so they buy cheap. I can tell you that I never saved money building my own systems. I probably spent as much as I would have on a Mac. But... I had more powerful and more stable PCs than any off-the-shelf model I've ever seen.

bulletwitch said:

If you want a virus that you claim macs don't have, head on over to piratebay. They will be more than happy to turn your mac into a 'bot'.. No, don't do that.. I have to agree with Juan. I hate defending windows but this is what happens when people don't think of protecting their machines. I don't even want to talk about system maintenance, let's not go there.. it's a nerd thing as they call it. Let's blame MS for our porn scavenger hunts. We need to protect ourselves. That even means checking certificates to ensure the software your installing is from a credible source before you type in your password. I don't think winXX will ever be OSX but the customizations you can do with winXX still makes it a viable alternative.. (and the rest of the world still seems to think so)..

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There is a huge difference between a virus and a trojan. A trojan is simply social engineering. It's a malicious program masked to look like something desirable. Trojans take advantage of ignorant users. With even a modicum of common sense (i.e. don't download and install pirated software or software from questionable sources), one can avoid Trojans.

And as to those who feel the need to steal... well... you can't fix stupid.

Juan Largo said:

There are no viruses that can infect OS X on their own.

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I can argue otherwise. A virus can infect applications on a clean OS X machine if that machine executes code that has a virus and said code is on a network that the machine is connected to.

The thing is...

I just had a conversation at Macworld about if there were any viruses on OS X. Apparently OSX.Macarena was a proof of concept virus that Symantec and Sophos agreed is a virus. The Sophos page suggested the delivery method was a worm.

The point being that a virus can be delivered by other means such as worms or trojans. The bad guys will use what ever means they can to mess with peoples computers.

cwa107 said:

And as to those who feel the need to steal... well... you can't fix stupid.

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Pirate Bay and such sites are not all about stealing. Legitimate items can be downloaded via the peer-to-peer sites and one could end up downloading such software that has been infected.

What I think CWA is saying is at this point in time the only software with that Trojan has been Pirated software. That could change of course down the road.

I remember in late-March they were freaking out over the "April Fool's Day" virus and I read comments on the bottom of the reports and I saw many comments from people who obviously own a Mac saying how "good thing we have a Mac, they won't touch us.." *shrug* I don't know.

I do have a few questions coming to mind at the moment...

What is the OS version out right now, should I read a little bit about it at Barnes and Noble or something?

What is MobileMe, is this where you get a "[email protected]" email?
^ I'm trying to configure my Mac.

xstep said:

Pirate Bay and such sites are not all about stealing. Legitimate items can be downloaded via the peer-to-peer sites and one could end up downloading such software that has been infected.

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That's not what I said. I am completely aware that there are valid, legal reasons for using BT and P2P software in general.

However, the most recent trojan that has caught big headlines distributed itself through pirated copies of iWork '09 - and that's what I was referring to.