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Thread: can dvd's be erased

  1. #21
    Joanna Carter's Avatar
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    Re: can dvd's be erased

    Quote Originally Posted by Rakesh Malik View Post
    If you run software and your computer is connected to the internet, it's potentially vulnerable no matter what OS you're running.
    It is considerably more difficult for a Mac user to accidentally permit a virus; anything that wants to install itself has to request the user enters the master password so to do.

    Quote Originally Posted by Rakesh Malik View Post
    Hence the recommendation for virus protection software -- enough users don't know enough to protect their own machines to make viruses a danger, and now that OSX is gaining significant market share, it's also becoming a more appealing target for hackers and malware.
    So far, over two years, I haven't even had a sniff of a virus. There just aren't the possibilities for infection that Windows offers.

  2. #22
    Joanna Carter's Avatar
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    Re: can dvd's be erased

    Quote Originally Posted by Steve M Hostetter View Post
    It's my understanding that Mac won't let anything on the HD without a password ..which in the big picture is what a virus scan does?
    You are correct in understanding that the user has to actively permit the installation of anything by entering the administrative password. What a virus scanner does is to monitor all disc and memory access to ensure that anything that looks like a virus cannot run or install itself; hence the speed and performance penalties of using a virus scanner.

  3. #23

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    Re: can dvd's be erased

    Quote Originally Posted by Joanna Carter View Post
    It is considerably more difficult for a Mac user to accidentally permit a virus; anything that wants to install itself has to request the user enters the master password so to do.
    Do you remember how and why phishing works?

    So far, over two years, I haven't even had a sniff of a virus. There just aren't the possibilities for infection that Windows offers.
    Neither have I, but that proves nothing either way.

    But like I said, the only reason that there aren't as many virus writers targeting OSX is that there weren't enough users. These people are basically trying to wreak as much havoc as possible, so a small user base just doesn't appeal to them unless it's a high profile target like the NCSA.

    In last year's hacking contest, the first machine to be compromised out of Vista, Linux, and OSX was Vista -- because of a vulnerability in Safari.

    Besides, if there weren't vulnerabilities in OSX, you wouldn't be seeing security patches from Apple, yet they release quite a few. They'll never get rid of them all simply because this is the real world we're dealing with, but they do deserve credit for being diligent about addressing them.

  4. #24

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    Re: can dvd's be erased

    Rakesh is stepping on the money here. Windows is no more or less secure than OSX, etc. It has everything to do with the users. His point about virus software is absolutely dead on - it is NOT required to maintain a secure Windows machine, be it a workstation or server. I run many Windows systems (among others) and none of them have any virus software whatsoever.

    OSX is absolutely vulnerable to the same sorts of malicious programming as are Windows computers. Most of what you hear about as Windows virus issues are not virus issues at all, but rather that is the scapegoat for whenever anything goes wrong for many everyday Windows users, who represents a much wider group than OSX, which means nothing except that Microsoft has been much more successful than Apple has towards getting their OS into people's homes and offices.

    There is absolutely no reason to isolate your computer from the internet, Windows or OSX.

    Joanna, there is no fundamental difference between modern Windows NT systems such as XP and Vista, and OSX (UNIX) architecture that makes one or the other more or less secure. It is entirely about user base and user activity. Windows XP and Vista have absolute password security, and any of these systems, including OSX can be compromised if the user makes a mistake.

    And OSX has PLENTY of security vulnerabilities. Still, again, any of these systems and others like them, such as Solaris, etc., are very robust and easy to maintain without virus software, which is mostly a huge scam that preys on misinformation and popular opinion that is incorrect.


    Steve, just make sure to turn on your Windows Sharing service on your Mac and you will be perfectly able to view your OSX shares from your Windows machine, and this is probably the preferred direction no matter which way your files are going. Windows networking is hugely advanced and will handle things much better than OSX will, provided everything is working in the first place. Or you may have better luck the other way; it's all depends on you really.

    Cheers!

  5. #25
    runs a monkey grinder Steve M Hostetter's Avatar
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    Re: can dvd's be erased

    thx guys... ! very interesting information

    But I will tell you this from my own experiance, I had a Mac G3 laptop for 13 yrs. with no problems and three PC's ("same user") in that 13 yrs.This has caused me to consider other avenues.. So as a result the only technical term that I can make any sense of is shop and compare value for money..
    Now you say both systems are the same so tell me why "all these" -"PC repair shops" can't work on Mac's ?

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    Re: can dvd's be erased

    Quote Originally Posted by Steve M Hostetter View Post
    But I will tell you this from my own experiance, I had a Mac G3 laptop for 13 yrs. with no problems and three PC's ("same user") in that 13 yrs.This has caused me to consider other avenues.. So as a result the only technical term that I can make any sense of is shop and compare value for money..
    Now you say both systems are the same so tell me why "all these" -"PC repair shops" can't work on Mac's ?
    He didn't say that they were the same.

    Also, since the OSX is UNIX-ish (it's not truly UNIX, it's an imitation, just like Linux), administering it and troubleshooting non-obvious problems requires knowledge that most PC repair shops won't have -- and most of them won't support Linux either, for the same reason.

    The pre-x86 macs were also nearly entirely proprietary until Apple retired NuBus and started supporting industry standards like USB and PCI.

    Even today, tech support for laptops is a pain, because laptops aren't designed to be modular, they're designed to be compact. As in all things in engineering, there are tradeoffs.

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