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Mac vs. Windows: Security

Friday, April 10th, 2009

Most of us have heard the phrase “security through obscurity”. Right?

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This is the idea– surprisingly common, as it seems to make plenty of sense– that Macs (and other minority computer systems) are only secure and immune from the majority of viruses, trojans, and worms because they’re obscure. I guess obscurity would mean either (or both) that Macs don’t catch the attention of malware writers, or that Mac is simply too small a market to be worth their time.

I’d like to submit several responses to this:

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So… Mac vs. Windows, Cost-wise

Saturday, April 4th, 2009

As a designer, I think a lot about computers– being that I’m using one many hours each day. I’m a Mac user who came over from the world of Windows about 5 or so years ago. I have to say that, although my Mac experience has not been problem-free, it’s tended to be much more so than my Windows experience– both in the long-term (how many expensive repairs are required?) and the day-to-day (e.g. do I have to worry about viruses and other time-consuming routine maintenance?)

But what I want to get into today is value. It is conventional wisdom that Macs cost far more than their Windows counterparts, and thus are not worth the extra money. But is that true? I’ve read a number of unofficial “studies” on this, and have come away believing “yes and no, depending on how you calculate it– but Macs are still worth it if you’re like the majority of users who just want a machine that works.”

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