Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

file · Sep 16, 2002, 11:41 PM

Hi, i'm a recent switcher to the platform, and i want to say the best feature is OSX of course.

Another cool feature is not living in fear of viruses and other security flaws. It really feels good not having to worry at all. feels good to me. i'm new to macs, so i haven't experienced this yet. On my former PC, there was always a cloud hanging over my head even though i was very careful.

My friend is having a problem with the Klez virus now and sent out emails to everybody apologizing to anybody who got emails from him. I just thought: to myself, glad i switched.

And might as well ask this too as i am Mac ignorant. Why is it so important to have so many bays in a PowerMac? Macs have had firewire for years. You can just plug in anything you want into the firewire port and you got it.

macvillage.net · Sep 16, 2002, 11:52 PM

Firewire isn't quite as fast (always) and it is clutter to have external devices. If you look at Macs, you realize that looks are half the product. A bunch of drives all over the place is PC like.

Mac guys like a slim clean looking desk with one shiny computer.

starman · Sep 16, 2002, 11:56 PM

file,
Never ass-u-me that you're free of viruses on any platform. Things could be fine for a year or 5 years, but that day WILL COME I'm sure when someone finds an OS X exploit.

As for Firewire, nothing beats a direct IDE connection (well, maybe SCSI)

.

Mike

file · Sep 17, 2002, 12:00 AM

not me. i would rather have a external device so if i buy a another mac in the future i can just plug it in.

or if i have more than one mac, i suddenly have several computers equipped with the latest equipment instead of just one. or if i had a mac at work, just bring it to work. or just bring it to my friend's house. or lend it to a friend.

seems a lot more flexible for a few seconds worth of performance. also a lot of the drives look cool now too.

starman,

firewire beats it to me. firewire is so simple and easy with marginal performance loss. i like it a lot

also, i am new to macs. but it's a overwhelming sense of relief to not have to constantly have my guard up for every website and email i get or go to.

RGB · Sep 17, 2002, 12:03 AM

I have found 20-30 instances of Klez in my mailbox over the last 10 days. Someone in the same school program as me, which consists of over 200 students (all on a mailing list) got infected and it started to spread from there. Thankfully I haven't had to worry about them, I just delete them without fear. They're still a pain in the ass though.

starman · Sep 17, 2002, 12:07 AM

file,
Is it more flexible? Yes.

Is it more expensive? Yes.

Is there more danger of ruining your drive if you forget to properly unmount it? Yes.

I have nothing against firewire drives. I own one, but it's only for convenience. I'd never replace a real hard drive with a firewire one.

Mike

file · Sep 17, 2002, 12:26 AM

starman,

i agree. i would never give up a internal harddrive either. but if i had an extra bay , i'd take a firewire drive or firewire cdrw over using the bay...

firewire is incredibly useful.

funkboy · Sep 17, 2002, 12:47 AM

Well, actually, OS X is as "vulnerable" to viruses as Windows. There just aren't many viruses for Mac - if someone sends a Mac user an application via email and they open the attachment, boom, they're screwed. If some malicious hacker decided to start making a bunch of apps that caused damage, and people started opening them, then a problem could happen.

But, really, I think Mac users are smarter than that. Also, it's tougher to actually load an app in OS X from an email document... a bundle application couldn't just get sent through the email. I don't think a classic app could, either.

Anyway, I agree, it's very nice to not have to worry about it. Hooray!

file · Sep 17, 2002, 08:35 AM

Originally posted by funkboy:
Well, actually, OS X is as "vulnerable" to viruses as Windows. There just aren't many viruses for Mac - if someone sends a Mac user an application via email and they open the attachment, boom, they're screwed.

whatever the reason it just feels nice. feels free, and safe like the internet should be.

Anyway, I agree, it's very nice to not have to worry about it. Hooray! [/B]

my mind feels so much more at ease now. it's literally like night and day the way i approach browsing and email now.

Cipher13 · Sep 17, 2002, 08:42 AM

Originally posted by file:
or if i have more than one mac, i suddenly have several computers equipped with the latest equipment instead of just one. or if i had a mac at work, just bring it to work. or just bring it to my friend's house. or lend it to a friend.

It's just as easy to move internal stuff around.

file · Sep 17, 2002, 08:48 AM

take into mind that some people hate messing with their computer's insides

also take into mind that extra care has to be taken to carry around a internal device than an external (loose wires and plugs)

and firewire devices are often plug and play

iNub · Sep 17, 2002, 09:04 AM

What exactly does Klez do? I'm WAY out of times with the PC virus world. All I know is it has something to do with file swapping.

file · Sep 17, 2002, 09:15 AM

Originally posted by iNub:
What exactly does Klez do? I'm WAY out of times with the PC virus world. All I know is it has something to do with file swapping.

that's what i'm talking about!!!

mac users are so oblivious and care free that they have no idea the daily annoyance of "being on guard"

Cipher13 · Sep 17, 2002, 09:28 AM

Originally posted by file:
take into mind that some people hate messing with their computer's insides

also take into mind that extra care has to be taken to carry around a internal device than an external (loose wires and plugs)

and firewire devices are often plug and play

1. True.

2. Wires? What wires?

3. True, but I don't particularly like P&P. But that's just me.

Re. virii: the Wintel over there *me points* has been on for about 25 days straight. I use Win all the time. I don't worry about virii. My wintels have no virus protection software. It's just a matter of what you do, and how you do it.

True that something as simple as chatting or reading your email can be hazardous, though...

starman · Sep 17, 2002, 09:30 AM

Cipher,
We've seen viruses attack files on our network. You could do nothing and have something infected without you knowing.

Mike

macvillage.net · Sep 17, 2002, 09:54 AM

1. Viruses will reach Mac OS X, just wait, they will come.

2. Macs can still carry viruses (if a file you have is infected, and you unknowingly email it to someone.

3. You still feel the effects of the I love you virus and such on networks.

starman · Sep 17, 2002, 09:56 AM

Originally posted by macvillage.net:

3. You still feel the effects of the I love you virus and such on networks.

Were Macs (or more specifically, MS Office for Mac) impervious to these Outlook viruses?

Mike

ReggieX · Sep 17, 2002, 10:46 AM

Outlook viruses (virii isn't a word, thanks) are written in Visual Basic, which doesn't run on Macs.

OTOH, Office for the Mac can pass on macro viruses, but I'm unsure if they can run them. Usually they involve changing your default.whatever template, and using that to pass themselves on. I've had a few documents come from people whose machines were infected, but nothing happened to me because I pass everything through Virex.

Smarter companies will have virus scanners on their email servers, but those can be bypassed by new viruses. It takes time and effort by the sysadmin to keep up with all the developments, and a lot of companies are unwilling to let them do their work right.

macvillage.net · Sep 17, 2002, 11:53 AM

The effects of those viruses were on bandwidth and the slowing/crashing of networks, and that was felt regardless of the platform.

Only PC users could spread it.

Zimphire · Sep 17, 2002, 01:32 PM

Originally posted by starman:
file,
Never ass-u-me that you're free of viruses on any platform. Things could be fine for a year or 5 years, but that day WILL COME I'm sure when someone finds an OS X exploit.

As for Firewire, nothing beats a direct IDE connection (well, maybe SCSI) .

Mike

Lets hook up my video camera to my IDE port... wer wait, can't do that. Lets use SCSI, er wait can't do that either.

Zimphire · Sep 17, 2002, 01:34 PM

Originally posted by macvillage.net:
1. Viruses will reach Mac OS X, just wait, they will come.

First there has to be OS X users writing them. the Mac has had very little virii problems over the past 15 years or so. I really don't see that changing much.

Phanguye · Sep 17, 2002, 02:08 PM

(sitting quietly in a dark room)

thats what you think

(starts rewriting klez in scheme)

Muw ha ha haha

juanvaldes · Sep 17, 2002, 02:45 PM

Originally posted by Phanguye:
(sitting quietly in a dark room)

thats what you think

(starts rewriting klez in scheme)

Muw ha ha haha

Your using scheme?!?!

You sick puppy you...

typoon · Sep 17, 2002, 03:08 PM

It's not having to worry about too many viruses you can still get them especially the M$ exploits. Many of them will also work on the Mac. Macs and OS X have FAR less virii than Windows but you can still get them.

Not having virus protection is like having unprotected sex. It's just a matter of time before you get something

starman · Sep 17, 2002, 03:29 PM

Originally posted by Zimphire:

Lets hook up my video camera to my IDE port... wer wait, can't do that. Lets use SCSI, er wait can't do that either.

Whoo! A reply taken out of context.

We were talking about DRIVES, not webcams (do you put your webcam in a bay?).

Mike

11011001 · Sep 17, 2002, 03:43 PM

Internal vs. Firewire...

it really depends. I like both. I have RAID for most of my storage which is internal...

but I like using firewire for things like extra CD burners or whatever.

I suppose it really depends on the application.

I mean if you run a server in which you need access to massive storage all the time, go internal, besides it's cheaper.

If you have a QS and an iBook and want to have shared files go firewire. It's really dependent on the situation I guess....

Neither one is really completely better than the other, and I really could not work with only one of them...

Ooo, and mac virii... ya there are OS X viruses. Just not many. I think people like writing windows viruses because I am pretty sure just about everyone hates microsoft, and it seems that it is just the system of choice to write viruses for.

No one really cares a great deal about screwing up OS X or whatever... but Unix is one of the more favorite things to hack though...

Oi. Been a LOOONNG time since I posted in the lounge... I must resist the urge to continue posting. I MUST restrain myself... I must... ahhh... No, NO. I have to work. There ... submit.

Zimphire · Sep 17, 2002, 03:51 PM

Originally posted by starman:

Whoo! A reply taken out of context.

We were talking about DRIVES, not webcams (do you put your webcam in a bay?).

Mike

Actually YOU was just talking about drives. File was talking about firewire in general. You took everything firewire can do and compared it to just drives. I was pointing out firewire has more to do than just drives

Posted by file

You can just plug in anything you want into the firewire port and you got it.

Posted by starman

As for Firewire, nothing beats a direct IDE connection (well, maybe SCSI) .

And I replied to that post. There was no taking things out of context. File was talking about firewire over-all.

I don't even no why I have to make a post like this. I shouldn't.

starman · Sep 17, 2002, 03:55 PM

Originally posted by Zimphire:

Actually YOU was just talking about drives. File was talking about firewire in general. You took everything firewire can do and compared it to just drives. I was pointing out firewire has more to do than just drives

"You can just plug in anything you want into the firewire port and you got it."

And I replied to that post. There was no taking things out of context. File was talking about firewire over-all.

I don't even no why I have to make a post like this. I shouldn't.

You CONVENIENTLY left out the sentences before which read:

Why is it so important to have so many bays in a PowerMac? Macs have had firewire for years. You can just plug in anything you want into the firewire port and you got it.

So, whatever. Like I said...out of context.

Some people just look for a fight, I guess.

Mike

Captain Obvious · Sep 17, 2002, 04:01 PM

Originally posted by Zimphire:

First there has to be OS X users writing them. the Mac has had very little virii problems over the past 15 years or so. I really don't see that changing much.

But aren't Mac virus hard to get because of the method of infection. A virus has to get to a Mac and then send it out to a Mac. The odd of that are slim as it is. Most email addresses lead to people using PCs so most of those potential leads are closed down there and the chain cannot proceed. Now with X being added to the mix the virus has to be written to auto run on one of two Mac OS's further complicating the execution of a virus.
So isn't the numbers game even more important as to why Macs don't get hit as often?

Zimphire · Sep 17, 2002, 04:06 PM

Originally posted by starman:
[B]

You CONVENIENTLY left out the sentences before which read:

Yes starman, but then he said ANYTHING also, meaning NOT JUST drives Making my post NOT out of context.

Think about it.

So, whatever. Like I said...out of context.

And as I have shown, you were off base by that comment.

Some people just look for a fight, I guess.

Mike

I agree, I wish you'd stop.

Zimphire · Sep 17, 2002, 04:08 PM

Originally posted by Captain Obvious:

But aren't Mac virus hard to get because of the method of infection. A virus has to get to a Mac and then send it out to a Mac. The odd of that are slim as it is.

Right, I agree.

Most email addresses lead to people using PCs so most of those potential leads are closed down there and the chain cannot proceed. Now with X being added to the mix the virus has to be written to auto run on one of two Mac OS's further complicating the execution of a virus.
So isn't the numbers game even more important as to why Macs don't get hit as often?

You have a good point there.

starman · Sep 17, 2002, 04:15 PM

Originally posted by Zimphire:

Yes starman, but then he said ANYTHING also, meaning NOT JUST drives Making my post NOT out of context.

Think about it. And as I have shown, you were off base by that comment.

I agree, I wish you'd stop.

*sigh*

He said bay. That pretty much implies "whatever" you'd put IN A BAY. Not camcorders.

His next post said:

seems a lot more flexible for a few seconds worth of performance. also a lot of the drives look cool now too.

*gasp* there's the word DRIVE.

and then...

firewire beats it to me. firewire is so simple and easy with marginal performance loss. i like it a lot

Do you think he was talking about a performance loss from a CAMCORDER?

Mike

11011001 · Sep 17, 2002, 06:30 PM

Anyways, just realized what this topic was about so er, um ya... screw studying for now.

Some rarely talked about features, or well just features that I really like about my mac:
- the LCD gets its power from the video card, only one cable, my friends think that is really slick
- even more slimy is the power button on the lcd, the one that "senses" your presence and activates... hehe... they really get a kick out of how it pulses for a second, and then go "oooo ahh!!" as it starts to slowly breathe...
- I like the way the tower opens up so effortlessly. Just pop the handle and down the side comes. I have spent a fair bit of time inside of my tower swapping HDs, putting in new PCI cards, and cleaning it (with pressurized air of course)
- In OS X I really freaking love the terminal, and the transperency on it. I spend a good deal of my time in my terminal, ssh ing to work, or programming, or working on Perl scripts... it's nice to finally have Unix.. I mean and not have to boot into something like YellowHat...
- Oo, the software RAID isn't too bad, although I went and bought a hardware RAID card
- OS X comes with the Developer Tools CD, or you can download it. It is actually an exceptional set of tools, I was extremely impressed coming from CodeWarriror to them...
- Protected memory, this is a life saver. Back in the classical era I would code programs, and quite often they would crash the system... real pain in the gluteous maximus to restart every 15 minutes
- Oh! An audio system system built to support multichannel audio, although i don't have the hardware to utilize this, I still think it is pretty darn cool, coming from the 2 channel classic sound manager.
- PCI cards don't need to be really jammed in to make sure there is a secure connection. You know when they are in, and don't have to force them any further.
- I like how they all come standard with firewire and USB
- Gigabit ethernet is a nice feature to have on my QS, solely for bragging... otherwise I can't afford the gigabit ethernet switch, plus my other computer is an iMac, and I only have a printer the iMac, the QS and the DSL modem on my network, so I think it is rather pointless.
- the abilitity to cycle desktop images... it's another wow factor, but I think windows can do it to... errr...
- flurry, that's a cool screen saver
- and the sleep function actually works, though my computer never ever sleeps

That's enough. If I type anymore I think I will have gone overboard, or I already have

macvillage.net · Sep 17, 2002, 06:50 PM

Originally posted by typoon:
Not having virus protection is like having unprotected sex. It's just a matter of time before you get something

Most would argue that quote from both ends, claiming it's safe either way. Personally, I wouldn't. Virex on every Mac I own, Norton AntiVirus on Windows systems.

And yes it does happen. I remember a few times not to long ago where a CD was pressed with a Mac virus on it. (think MacAddict had that once).

As for OS X viruses. They shall come, simply because they know not many Mac users take any precausions.

file · Sep 17, 2002, 07:25 PM

To be honest, when starman and i were trading posts the debate was more inclined towards firewire as a solid solution over standard internal bay installation.

I can see where you may have been misled a bit.

arrested502 · Sep 17, 2002, 07:30 PM

Originally posted by macvillage.net:
Mac guys like a slim clean looking desk with one shiny computer.

you should see my desk. External CD-RW, External ZIP drive, External modem, 2 17" monitors. There's barely any desk space left.

I'll probably miss the keyboard power button whenever I upgrade from my old Beige G3 here. I always liked that feature on the Mac, and still don't understand why they did away with it on the newer systems.

AbusiveParrot · Sep 17, 2002, 07:39 PM

TWO ALL BEEF PATTY SPECIAL SAUCE!

file · Sep 17, 2002, 07:54 PM

Originally posted by 11011001:

- In OS X I really freaking love the terminal, and the transperency on it. I spend a good deal of my time in my terminal, ssh ing to work, or programming, or working on Perl scripts... it's nice to finally have Unix.. I mean and not have to boot into something like YellowHat...

i know...i don't know how old you are but remember the olden days ....i would have never guessed a "terminal" could look so freakin' good

- OS X comes with the Developer Tools CD, or you can download it. It is actually an exceptional set of tools, I was extremely impressed coming from CodeWarriror to them...

being new to Macs i never knew your OS company would actually give you free stuff that was actually good!

- I like how they all come standard with firewire and USB

i like being able to ask clients...hey you got a mac? and i can come over and KNOW that my harddrive is compatible and plug it in and do my presentations without a hitch.

i never knew Macs could help my career so much. if i did i would have switched 3 years ago.

Zimphire · Sep 17, 2002, 07:57 PM

Originally posted by file:
To be honest, when starman and i were trading posts the debate was more inclined towards firewire as a solid solution over standard internal bay installation.

I can see where you may have been misled a bit.

Right, I understand that. But, my point was still not out of context, as starman was whining about. He was again, just trying to stir crap up. As in anything means well, anything. He could have just replied

"True, but I was just meaning drives"

and nothing would have been said. But he had to be all DEFENSE DEFENSE and condesending about it as usual. It's sad that I had to explain myself to him.

file · Sep 17, 2002, 08:07 PM

i find starman to be a very educated and smart poster here at macnn. i enjoy his posts very much.

but let's drop it, it's clear you guys have previous history.

cheerios · 08:39 PM

heh... he he.... HAAAA!!!! ... ahem... back to your regularly scheduled bickering...

edit: damn spelling...

philzilla · Sep 17, 2002, 08:37 PM

Originally posted by file:
i find starman to be a very educated and smart poster here at macnn. i enjoy his posts very much.

but let's drop it, it's clear you guys have previous history.

SOMEBODY GO AND SHOOT JERRY SEINFELD, WE HAVE NO NEED FOR HIM NOW. WE HAVE A NEW COMEDY GOD!!!

HAIL, FILE!!!

The Dude · Sep 17, 2002, 08:38 PM

Originally posted by file:
i find starman to be a very educated and smart poster here at macnn. i enjoy his posts very much.

but let's drop it, it's clear you guys have previous history.

Hey Mike, what's up?