Apple yanks Macintosh anti-virus software advice

December 4, 2008

MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops are seen on display at Apple Headquarters in Cupertino, California. Apple has replaced advice that people install anti-virus software on Macintosh computers with assurances that the machines are safe "out of the box."

Apple has replaced advice that people install anti-virus software on Macintosh computers with assurances that the machines are safe "out of the box."

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• DGBEACH - Dec 04, 2008
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  Antivirus programs are only effective against old viruses (ie.those already defined), and are Microsoft's way of reassuring its customers. Unfortunately they are no protection against new threats, and Windows run PCs are getting infected daily. Do yourselves a favor;if you are not running an Apple then switch over to Linux (Ubuntu, Kubuntu, etc.), which is inherently immune to being taken over by these little nasties!
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• Noumenon - Dec 04, 2008
  • Rank: 3 / 5 (2)
  I'm sure if Coleco Vision developed an OS, they would claim inherent safety from viruses too.
  
  
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• groupthinker1984 - Dec 07, 2008
  • Rank: 3.7 / 5 (3)
  I'm absolutely on board with the people who believe that Apple is only benefiting from its lack of market share when it comes to being "virus proof."
  
  PC's work fine if you actually know how to use a computer. The only time I've ever had issues with blue screens on my two systems stemmed from installing RAM incorrectly (which was entirely my fault). A quick configuration fix solved that problem and it has worked fine. No crashes, no bluescreens.
  
  But buy an Apple: Because affordable computers are evil.
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• Roach - Dec 08, 2008
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  Apples are no longer safe due to marketshare. The safety lies in that now that it is unix based, oh what is the old adage, don't ___ where you sleep? Most malevolent hackers run some unix based code. The danger isn't from viruses it's from hackers who know the Unix code better than the software engineers at Apple.
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• DGBEACH - Dec 08, 2008
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  excuse me, but nothing runs on my Linux machine without me knowing about it.period. And THAT is the kind of control which we all should have over our property.
  Windows takes that away from you, and opens too many back doors to the hackers.
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• groupthinker1984 - Dec 15, 2008
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  If you have the technical proficiency to understand what all your processes are, I agree. But I can sympathize with the lazy user who just wants to use a computer without having to manage it.
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