Well, some of the new operating systems for Mac's are windows based. I am hesitant to buy a new Mac with the newer operating systems my opinion is that Mac made a mistake with their newer software making it easier to hack. I run an older version and mine still seems pretty virus free. I do follow basic safe practices and do not open e-mails I do not recognize. Mac is also very easy to delete junk your hard drive seems to collect while on-line, PC's seem to retain a lot of on-line content even when you clear your history and cookies. Mac has a reset Safari that cleans the hard drive very well.

Gates designed Windows to be spied on and hacked. Macs are far from being virus free, and with Ipads taking over the laptop

market, my prediction is that it is only a matter of time before it becomes marginally profitable for malicious crackers to switch their focus to the Snow Leopard OS. Furthermore, in modern cracking strategies, it is the web browser and Java apps that are the focus attacks and not the operating system flavor. So saying ``I use a Mac'' with ``Firefox'' or ''Chrome'' is not much of a protection distinction.

For email reading, my main anti-virus technique is not to initially read your email offline. Use your webbrowser and your ISP's web email facility to read and preview your emails. Like your hard drive email program, most ISP web browser email readers also have spam and maleware filters. Just make sure that they are turned on. If you see an email that ISPs virus and spam filters did not catch, just delete it before it gets to your hard drive.

When reading your email through your ISP's web email application, run your browser in ``sandbox'' mode if possible - meaning no web application gets to write anything on your hard drive. Once you have previewed and deleted all unwanted for suspicious emails, then use your traditional POP3 email connection to download your emails to your local harddrive email application.

In Internet Explorer 8 and above, protected mode is enabled through the Windows Defender and turning on ``Real Time Security Protection.'' That will let you enable the option in MS IE to launch in protected mode. You can also enable it directly under MS IE - Internet Options - Security. There is a radio button labeled ``Enable Protected Mode''.

In Firefox under Windows, protected mode appears not to supported. Under Firefox Options | Security, set permissions to require the browser to notify you if any application (an add-on) trys to install on your local drive.

Protected mode has its problems and is a hassle to use. Most modern websites are dependent on dropping cookies and information on your harddrive, so many site may not display. Toggling protected mode on and off is not dynamic, as discussed below.

Another option that has less security is to use ``Private mode'' in either MS IE or Firefox. That shields your email id and history as your read your emails over an internet email app. Check your settings to make sure that you asked for permission before any application or add-on is installed.

The advantage of private mode is that it can be dynamically toggled on and off in MS IS and Firefox with a simple menu button. Why there is not a simple button in both labeled ``sandbox'' is beyond me.

As a general anti-virus technique, get in the habit of always clearing your browser's history and cookies. I do mine at least one every other day. Cookies are how Yahoo and Google and other commercial providers track you. It is also how id thieves can profile the types of sites that you visit, e.g. - did you check your bank account online in the last week. By grabbing your cookies, a malicious profiler can associate your email account name with with your bank's name. I clear my cookies after every commercial internet transaction, e.g. - buying something, checking an account balance, etc. Under the menu bars for both Firefox and MS IE, there is an option to ``Clear History'' and ``Clear Everything.'' Clear everything - always.

As a general anti-virus technique, if I am surfing sites that I ordinarily trust, e.g. NASA, Google, Yahoo, the UofU, etc., I do not worry about security. But, if I am going to do some general research that involves visiting many types of web sites, including individual generated webpages, I launch MS IE and throw it into Protected Mode or atleast Private Mode. In MS IE, it's a hassle to toggle Protect Mode off and on. You have to turn protected mode on, restart ME IE. When you done, then your have to go through the same thing again. It is time consuming, but makes it easier for me to sleep at night.

Hope that helps.

Clear Skies - Kurt

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