# Something about Macs...



## Nameisnobody (Oct 3, 2006)

Hi to all,

I recently purchased a new Mac, and so far I am pleased and relieved that I can start anew with this computer. My other computer is a 5 year old Windows XP.
Poor thing. Its struggling to fight back against those infectious hordes of Malwares, spywares and whatever managed to creep into my computer.
If you see my other thread concerning about that damned MSN virus that a heap of people have been getting, then I hope you can help me with some questions about it and some Mac related issues.

- If I do log onto MSN into my Mac computer, will it be infected and suffer the same ailments thats been plaguing my PC?
- If that is the case (or not), what other email service similar to MSN, can I use which is more secure and filled with less drama than a Maury talk show?
- Will reformating my computer, liquidate everything and I mean EVERYTHING in order for a fresh start?
- Is a Mac as secure as what the people and advertisement says? Will it end up like my PC?
- Should I buy anti spyware, anti virus and the like to protect my Mac against interlopers?

Well I think thats all the questions I have for now.
I am enjoying my Mac and all it has to offer. I want to use my PC still, because some of the school assignments Im doing require a PC because they have the programs to do it, like Visual Basics. 
Also, is the parallel program for the Mac good and well worth it? That is if I choose to give up on my PC? Any detail on it?
I hope Mac lives up to its name and gives me many years of loyal service.


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## Nameisnobody (Oct 3, 2006)

I have a trial version of the wireless internet service that came free with the Mac but will only have a span of 60 days. I recently downloaded Firefox and I am using that for now.
Wondering what Mac users use for their internet service.


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## shyataroo (Oct 6, 2006)

First thing: Apple computers are incompatible with malware therefore they will not get it.

Second thing: ISPs are universal if you find a isp who requires a PC compyooter then obviously they are so new that they don't have enough money to develop a driver for macintosh computers and therefore I would not trust them with internet service.

Finally: Apple compuers do something miraculous, they don't crash why? well its quite simple, each program runs seperately (kinda like windows xp) but instead of having memory leaks and stuff (where ram keeps on getting allocated to the application which gobbles it up and doesn't use it) the process' are protected, meaning if you have a cataclysmic crash on your browser you can run anything else like it didn't happen, you can bring up a Ctrl-Alt-delete eque menu when you presss command (apple) option escape.

next question


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## linskyjack (Aug 28, 2004)

Apple computers are incompatible with malware---thats a new one---No computer or OS is incompatible with malware. Apple doesn't have the problem because it doesn't have the market penetration that Windows does and therefore, malicious coders don't have an incentive to write the malware.


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## shyataroo (Oct 6, 2006)

linskyjack said:


> Apple computers are incompatible with malware---thats a new one---No computer or OS is incompatible with malware. Apple doesn't have the problem because it doesn't have the market penetration that Windows does and therefore, malicious coders don't have an incentive to write the malware.


It is incompatible with malware, malware infects .dll and .exe neither of which work agains apple therefore...

the closst thing to spyware apple has are cookies.


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## Pensacola Tiger (Apr 23, 2006)

Nameisnobody said:


> I have a trial version of the wireless internet service that came free with the Mac but will only have a span of 60 days. I recently downloaded Firefox and I am using that for now.
> Wondering what Mac users use for their internet service.


When you refer to 'wireless internet service' are you perhaps talking about a 60 day trial membership to .Mac? If it is, then you need to realize that it is not a 'wireless internet service' at all. It is a service that Apple sells that includes an email address, a personal webpage and other things, but basic access to the internet is not one of them.

You still need an Internet Service Provided (ISP) to connect to the internet. Your local cable TV company probably provides high-speed cable service, and your local phone company may be able to let you connect via high-speed DSL. There may also be several local companies offering dial-up connections.

From what you have said, it's possible that you had MSN as your ISP. According to the FAQs on its website, MSN requires a Windows PC to use its dial-up service, so if you did use dial-up MSN with your Windows PC, you won't be able to use it with your Mac to get online, but once you get online with another ISP, you will still be able to get to your MSN account.

As far as an ISP is concerned, shop around and find one that can offer support for Macs. If you get high-speed internet, look into getting a wireless router to allow you to share the internet connection with both your new Mac and your old Windows PC.

Good luck!


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## Nameisnobody (Oct 3, 2006)

Ah, I thank you all for your feedback.
Concerning with the comment by Pensacola Tiger, I'm pretty sure that the ISP that came with the Mac is Yahoo, not MSN. 
Also, do you Mac users out there have antispyware, antivirus, etc. for your Macs? I heard that the Symantec antivirus Mac version got bad reviews on the apple website.


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## Yankee Rose (Jul 14, 1999)

Hi Nameisnobody:

I've used Macs for a long time and have never used antivirus software with them. I have never had a problem.

I also do not use any antispyware software - again, no problems.

McAfee does have an antivirus program for Macs called Virex. Most Mac users will tell you that you won't need it. Here's a link:

http://www.mcafee.com/us/enterprise/products/anti_virus/file_servers_desktops/virex.html

Good luck and enjoy that Mac!


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## Nameisnobody (Oct 3, 2006)

ah thanks for the link, I'll look into that soon.


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## Nameisnobody (Oct 3, 2006)

Are there any Mac gamers out there?
If there are, I'd like to know how's the gaming ring faring on the Mac.
Is it as good as the PC? 
I know that Macs are slowly gaining numbers and I want to see if I can still enjoy some leisurely time on the Mac with a game or two.


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## chinajon (Sep 30, 2006)

Nameisnobody said:


> Ah, I thank you all for your feedback.
> Concerning with the comment by Pensacola Tiger, I'm pretty sure that the ISP that came with the Mac is Yahoo, not MSN.
> Also, do you Mac users out there have antispyware, antivirus, etc. for your Macs? I heard that the Symantec antivirus Mac version got bad reviews on the apple website.


Hi Nameisnobody
In a way, the Mac is more secure by the simple fact that the is a hierarchy of users available. When you create a new user, a new group of folders is created for that user that are only accessible by someone who knows that user's password. This seems similar to the admin user on XP but it works better. Even the admin level needs a password to access areas on the HD. Programs can not write to the registry and create dll files. Programs that have been installed can access something called the Library. But each user has their own Library for their own preferences. For example, you see the 'Dock' that shows things and running apps? That is customizable. Each user can see that the way they want. Hold down the control key, and click on the vertical line next to the trash can. You can see the customizable choices.

Sorry to ramble... re security. The easiest way to increase security is to create a user (You) that does not have admin privileges. Then, if a Trojan tries to get you to do something by trickery, you can't unless you type in the admin user and password. If the Trojan says, 'Hey look at this picture! It's You!' and you click on a jpg file which suddenly asks for an admin password, it is a great clue that the jpg is not a real picture, but is trying to fool you. opening a jpg never requires a password unless it has been secured by YOU and it is your password! You can password protect any document that you can print!

Open the original, even this web page. Select PRINT. See PDF? click it and see 'Encrypt PDF' ? Select that, give it a password, and print to PDF. You will never be able to open the file if you forget the password, so BE CAREFUL! Then delete the original. Done. :up:

Malware on the Mac has a lot more hurdles to jump over in order to get into the Mac. One of the biggest is the user who must be fooled into clicking on some link they know nothing about. This usually happens in spam emails. So, don't click links that you don't know about. Double check the URL if a window opens saying it is necessary to re input your password. Double double check if the site is also asking for your user name! People lose their yahoo email account often because Yahoo - in trying to be careful - often ask for the password. People get used to entering their password. But Yahoo should know your user name! Don't give any 'Security Department' information about your accounts. I guess you know all about that... One last hint. Create atrash email name. You can use your .Mac account or yahoo. When a site askes for an email in order to verify your account, as when you join techguy, give them the junk email name. Use it only to verify a valid email account. If you start getting spam to that account, then you know that what you joined sells their user list to spammers!

Oh well, sorry to ramble. Enjoy your Mac. 

As a WinXP user you are probably more aware of how to avoid virus that a Mac user. But 99.9 % of all virus will not work on a Mac even if they are on the Mac HD. However, good etiquette is to remove virus infected files so that you do not end up sending them to Win users who's computer can be infected. Give a hoot, don't pollute!


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## Nameisnobody (Oct 3, 2006)

I thank ye for your epic response  chinajon.
I'll have to read further into this. It is good info tho.
Thanks again.


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## Nameisnobody (Oct 3, 2006)

Pensacola Tiger said:


> When you refer to 'wireless internet service' are you perhaps talking about a 60 day trial membership to .Mac? If it is, then you need to realize that it is not a 'wireless internet service' at all. It is a service that Apple sells that includes an email address, a personal webpage and other things, but basic access to the internet is not one of them.


Yea, about the 60 Day Trial thing...I'm still able to use Firefox, send and recieve email, wiki etc. and its been more than 60 days since I got it on in the beginning of October! Actually its like 79 days that I've been using it...does any one of you veteran Mac users know whats really up with this?

Also, I'm planning to buy an antivirus somewhere...I know many people have replied to this thread saying that Macs don't need it...but still better to be safe than sorry no?
Or am I just being paranoid and be wasting my money on an anti-virus programs?  
Anyways, besides the McAffee AV programs that was posted on this thread, does any one else know any other AV programs for the Mac that wont horribly slow it down...?


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## shyataroo (Oct 6, 2006)

The .mac trial is 90 days I think, as for virus protection its not nessecary to have any as no virus' for mac os X exist (aside from proof of concept ones that require a admin to install them)

.mac to me is relativley pointless as you can easily do all the thing .mac has to offer (aside from the anti-virus and maybe a few things here and there) on the net including backup of your entire hard drive via a file hosting service called mediafire its got unlimited space for uploads and unlimited space for downloads/unlimited simultanious downloads its 100% ad supported.


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## shyataroo (Oct 6, 2006)

Nameisnobody said:


> Are there any Mac gamers out there?
> If there are, I'd like to know how's the gaming ring faring on the Mac.
> Is it as good as the PC?
> I know that Macs are slowly gaining numbers and I want to see if I can still enjoy some leisurely time on the Mac with a game or two.


mac gaming is not as prevalent by any means as PC games, however unlike PC the mac games that are released are *USUALLY* higher caliber than most PC games there are always exceptions to the rule (*cough* half-life1/2) unfortunately with the exception of blizzard and bungie (before 2000) and a few smaller companies mac games are always released later than thier PC counter-parts, and usually suffer from slow performance because of poor optimization for Open GL (which is what mac os x uses for graphics vs direct X for PC) and mac Video cards are also not up to snuff vs PC graphics cards (example amd/ati recently released the X1900 XT for the mac which has been availible on PC's for 6+ months) once again this is due to the mac market share.

Ambrosia Software makes games for apple first and ports them to PC (with better optimization for PC's than most companies would do for mac partly due to the exstenstive beta testing they do (which usually lasts 6-8 months and involves hundreds of people)

however, with the advent of intel mac's you can now boot windows on a mac and play every windows game and for DOS games you can get a DOS emulator like DOS BOX (look it up, I'm lazy)


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## davidanders (Dec 30, 2006)

Nameisnobody said:


> I want to use my PC still, because some of the school assignments Im doing require a PC because they have the programs to do it, like Visual Basics.


To attempt to clean up an infected WINXP system...
Download, install, *update* and run (these are all free)
1] Adaware http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
2] Spybot Search&Destroy http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/
3] CCleaner http://www.ccleaner.com

For trusted advice on spyware/malware removal see...
http://www.spywareinfo.com
http://www.spywarewarrior.com
.


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## oldmanmax (Jan 2, 2007)

I have doom 3, quake 4, halo, simcity, sims 2, warcraft 3, and a couple of war games installed. Grand kids love them and I run the 64 bit card that came with the machine with no issues. Running gig and half of ram, dual core ppc 2.0. Will not go back to a PC.


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## Nameisnobody (Oct 3, 2006)

Any of you Mac users know how to Back up your Mac???


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## MSM Hobbes (Apr 23, 2004)

Nameisnobody said:


> Any of you Mac users know how to Back up your Mac???


1. Burn DVD or CD of desired goods
2. Acquire ".mac" or similar service [as pointed at in an earlier post in this thread: mediafire, which is somewhat similar, but not really; ie: security, longevity, etc.]
3. Save to external HD [of course, properly formated to read & write Mac OS data]
4. Save to zip drive
5. etc.


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## Pensacola Tiger (Apr 23, 2006)

Nameisnobody said:


> Any of you Mac users know how to Back up your Mac???


One of the best backup programs available is SuperDuper!.

It can make a bootable copy of your hard drive on an external drive, so that if your internal drive dies, you can just boot off the external and continue to work until you can replace the internal drive.


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## MSM Hobbes (Apr 23, 2004)

Pensacola Tiger said:


> One of the best backup programs available is SuperDuper!.
> 
> It can make a bootable copy of your hard drive on an external drive, so that if your internal drive dies, you can just boot off the external and continue to work until you can replace the internal drive.


 Have seen this. Do you have the free version, or is the paid version worth its cost?


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## Pensacola Tiger (Apr 23, 2006)

I'm using the free version, but intend to get the paid version for the ability to do what they term a 'Smart Update'.

Carbon Copy Cloner is another good program, but for no particular reason I like SuperDuper! better.


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