another mac question !

[bogtrotter]

hi there..seriously thinking about changing from windows machine to an i mac..have visited local i store and was impressed with the whole i mac experience.When the sales chap was asked about anti virus protection his response was that it's not really needed as macs don't get attacked in the same way as windows machines..is this correct? does anyone have any experience to share in this direction?also any views on purchasing from authorised resellers rather than i stores...prices don't seem much different.thanks steve w.

[Junior Bianno]

Correct - virus protection not relevant to Macs. Lot of boring technical background to this - you'll find it on this forum by doing a search, but the upshot is you don't need Windows style virus protection.

Very little price difference between different retailers - Apple control the pricing. I always buy from the Mac store - simply because they always usually have stock of most items and if there are any problems I just take it back to them.

[HiRich]

The key word is "really" - it's theoretically possible (to a degree), but hasn't really happened. I think there have been only two or three serious "proof of concepts" in nine years of OSX and only one that could realistically be described as "out in the wild" (and that required you to download a pirate copy of commercial software). That's on top of a grand total of 64 viruses/trojans/worms/etc. across OS3-9.

So at the moment (and still counting) the best option would be:

• Ignore commercial software (UNLESS you intend to run Windows and the internet through Bootcamp or a virtualisation)
• Keep your ear to the round, with an RSS feed to a Mac News site. If something appears, even in theory, it's big news.
• Dowload an open source package, such as ClamXAV or iVirus. This is more so that you don't act as a carrier for your Windows contacts (it covers virusses on both). There's probably no need to even have it running in "Watch" mode, just run a full scan every few months or if a contact calls (FWIW, nothing on my machine in five years)

[Leithen]

1. Ensure built in firewall is switched on and operating in "stealth mode"
2. Add a new user with admin privileges, operate your own user account as "standard" without admin privileges.
3. Download and install Little Snitch to monitor and control outgoing network traffic.
4. Change your keychain password so that it is different from your login password.
5. Make sure software updates are installed promptly.
6. Allow paranoia level to decrease ever so slightly.

Once you have got used to the Mac, there are other steps that can be taken if you are being extra-cautious such as using Filevault etc. There are plenty of articles such as this that give more details.

[paddyhasneeds]

If you're behind a router you're pretty much golden in the real world on OS X, so long as you don't do anything stupid like type the root password into boxes that prompt for it when you only visited a porn site.

Personally I would buy from an Apple store simply because they will always have the newest revision (by which I mean very minor internal stuff not simply the headline CPU/RAM side of things) and as you've found there's little to no financial reason not to buy from an Apple store.

Do consider an Apple refurb, I've never had one myself but only seem to hear good things about them - AIUI they aren't nails just a result of Apple's very generous return/replacement policy.

Also if you or a relative is in education you can get around 14% off the price of an iMac or whatever you're considering.

[bogtrotter]

thanks guys...helpful advice..mac's the way to go!
steve.

[PJ S]

Ahem.....iMac!