Forums Forums Enthusiast Forums A - Z Gadgets & Tech Microsoft Windows Security Update

Now its unclear as to which OS's this actually affects, it seems to be just Vista, but as always, in the interest of security, you should run a Windows Update check no matter what OS you are using.

Microsoft Windows Update

BBC News Report

I'm in computer support and always get bombarded with these.

To solve all secutiry issues just get a mac. really i'm not kidding, i have not got one myself but e.g. last year over 160,000 probably more viruses for pc's. mac's "0"

want to know why?

Apple work on security first and make sure that every release is bug free and more importantly "works". this is why their os's look so much better than windows because they have the time to think about the users "experience" rather than trying to block the leeky holes in their software.

Also if you took a mac out of the box you can be on the internet within 30 min unlike a pc.

woke up to day with MS auto rebooting in the night.

Gits.. i hate it when it does that..

where's me work from last night gone

I think it is wrong for you to say that everyone should be on Mac's etc. Yes, they have less virus's and less holes, but there is good reason for this, all of which dont actually benfit the consumer much, in fact the majority actually hinder the consumers enjoyment and practicality of the system. BTW, I can have a Windows NT PC online within 20 seconds out of the box, so I don't understand what exactly you are going on about with regards to that lol.

There is actually a virus for the mac now, a trojan, which came about last year. Its called Leap-A iirc, and its the first major virus to hit OSX.

Mac's arnt generally immune from virus's because Apple think about security, there are a number of reasons why mac's are free from virus's when compared to Windows and Linux:

1. Windows and Linux are far more commonly used then OSX will ever be - 97%+ of residential consumers use Microsoft Windows NT/9x and 95%+ of dedicated servers run Linux/FreeBSD/Debian. People don't tend to make mallicious software for OS's that arnt used. BeOS hasnt had a single virus made for it for instance, but then nobody uses it. If I wanted to write a virus that I wanted to affect millions of people and be spread very easily, I would write it for Windows or Linux as they are by far the most popular OS's.

2. MacOS/OSX is built heavily on Unix. In fact the core of the OS is pretty much fully Unix, but with a fancy GUI, similar to what Linux is. The reason why Linux has become very prone to Virus's is because over the years of development, people have developed software for the OS and developed the OS's themselves in a way that means Linux is gradually moving Linux further and further away from its Unix roots. People ask me all the time if they are the same. They are, or at least there were extremely similar, but nowadays, even the most competent Unix admin can struggle to control say the latest released on CentOS 5.x or Fedora Core 7, and vice versa with the most competent Linux admins. Native Unix can also be bit more complicated to code for then Linux, and with the majority of virus writers being used to Windows/Linux, most find it difficult to write for OSX.

3. MacOS/OSX owe's a lot of its secureness to the way the OS actually works and executes files. The primary advantage is that nothing can be executed on the system unless authorised by the end user. So it is hard for a virus to self-replicate and spread because before it can do so, it has to be executed by the user. As the majority of mac users are "professionals", they tend to have some idea of how to keep the system secure and what to be watching out for. This is another reason why virus writers can't be bothered to try writing a virus for OSX.

4. Apple havent particuarly worked hard on the security of OSX, they have just not opened it up in the same way that Microsoft have opened up Windows. Also, the majority of the Windows source code is freely available in the public domain, likewise with Linux obviously because its GNU GPL. Apple are very select over who they allow the source code to be seen by and to what extent they allow it. This makes the job of writing virus's for it even harder still. This has some MASSIVE drawbacks though, primarily being the fact that 3rd party applications become limited and the software becomes far more expensive. Windows is the worlds favourite OS because it can do just about everything a user wants it to do, and the software is cheap (within reason) because there are so many 3PD's doing the same thing and in the same market, the competition forces down prices. It's also a LOT easier to code software for Windows as well as the fact anyone can release a piece of software for Windows without needing a license to do so (we only have to look at what Apple did with IEEE1394 for instance to see how bad their licensing schemes can be).


5. And on top of all this, we have to remember that Apple's make a greater use of RISC then their CISC IBM/C counterparts. Not only can this be in some ways a more secure format from the off, but it also in a few ways, add more troubles for someone attempting to code for it if they are only used to a CISC background and OS. Don't forget that for all its advantages, RISC cant pull of the level of executions that CISC can.

Whilst I would love a Mac and OSX has certainly come on leaps and bounds since the days of MacOS 8.x etc, its still not generally a user friendly system and will never compete with Windows on functionality or the range of software available for it. It is seen by many as very minimalist and a bit too restrictive. Vista has stepped towards OSX in terms of both security and interface, but Microsoft have held back going too far because you comprimise usability. Apple don't, and I suspect never will, market the mac or OSX as an operating system for the masses. The main reason Apple and Microsoft are now slowly starting to become allied is because they are aiming at different markets. Apple is quite happy and content to provide solutions for the high end professional market, and their systems are priced accordingly. Microsoft on the other hand aims their solutions at the lower end and general consumer market. Both companies are trying to make inroads into the server industry, but I doubt either actually will within the next 5 years. The fact that cPanel, the worlds most popular hosting software by far, have no release for either OSX or Microsoft Windows Server signifies how little ground they have made in the industry.

Amazingly, some goon thought of something in the 70's that was really stupid - its called save and guess what, it saves your work incase the un-expected happens

I aint even gunna bother reading you previous post Matty as it'll be far too detailed

looooool