On 8/13/03 2:05 PM, "Mark Schieldrop" <mark@schieldrop.net> wrote:
Macs have viruses too. Don't be naïve.
Well, I'm sure they do... But I work @ Apple, and have used Macs for nearly a decade, and never, EVER have I EVER heard of someone having to reformat their Mac (and lose all data) due to some virus. That was basically my point. Sorry to start a platform war...
The reason PCs have more widespread exploits is because they are more commonly used, and runs most corporate networks these days.
Macs don't 'just work'. They fail and have problems too. Because it's a closed system you have less hardware and software that might not interact smoothly. This is both a positive and a negative.
Windows XP itself has automatic updating these days so there really is no more additional effort involved. I agree that the Mac is a nice machine, but honestly, it's not an alternative to a PC when you require the applications and interoperability of a PC network in a corporate environment, and the applications simply do not exist for the Mac. Just like I wouldn't suggest giving your receptionist a copy of FreeBSD to get her work done.
The corporate environment here @ Apple has been functioning fine for some time now. Our receptionists use Microsoft Office just like you PC people. And I connect from my Mac to my PC with ease under OSX. So this argument really doesn't hold ground like it so many years ago. If you want games, get a PC hands down. Everything else is pretty much available for the Mac though.
Nobody in their right mind should have port 135 open anyway, it's for internal LAN network tasks, and any secure network with a qualified administrator would have had that locked down in the first place. XP's built in firewall does a good job of limiting these types of possible exploits. Again, a safeguard is part of the package. You don't even have to look further than the OS.
My girlfriend got the recent worm everyone's talking about has no clue what a port is (she's running XP home on a dialup connection). And she got screwed. No data loss thank god, but a pain in the ass none the less... _jason_