I agree with the first two paragraphs that Martin wrote,

My PC is on 24/7 and I only have to reboot once a month … I run Norton Internet Security to handle my AV/Spyware/Malware etc.

Viri (Is that the plural), Malware/Spyware is there, you just have to be careful … but all have to do is go to the wrong web site …. then Mr Norton (or whoever) does his stuff. (It has protected me … I know that by looking at the logs)

I would stay with PC.

Dave

WinXP with ZoneAlarm pro and Firefox

Never needed anything else, don't visit any naughty sites

I NEVER update if my computer is fine, most updates are bs IMO

EVERYTHING in windows is switched off/disabled, firewall, antivirus, autoupdates etc

Zonealarm pro is all I've ever needed

If you want things to be a doddle do a reload of Windows and disable EVERYTHING

The only other precautions I take are I never open email attachments and all my email is in text format only on a webpage at my ISP provider

Edited By Ady1 on 13/11/2012 01:10:20

Hi John,

I am a Mac user with limited Microsoft experience.

I do not have anti virus, spy or mal ware software installed, and never have. I have never had any viruses, but I can't say if I've been spied on. Security updates can be set to download automatically, but they don't seem to even begin to rival the frequency of windows based ones.

Recently, there was a scare regarding the Mac security system, and it would appear that perhaps Apple were caught unprepared, although I believe that this has now been attended to. I know of no-one that was affected.

MS Office is available in a Mac version. There are CAD programmes available for Macs, but they don't seem to be in the usual brands. I don't know if cnc can be undertaken with Macs (I'm sure it can, but am unaware of off the shelf software).

I've liked all the Macs I've had (4), and see no reason to ever change. I've always found using windows to be somewhat counterintuitive, but if you changed to Mac you may find the same for a while.

Worth getting one? I'd say so, but then again, I would!

Hugh.

Simple answer = YES

Hi,

I am aware that this may not be what you want to hear, but please bear with me.

I also have struggled through all the various versions of Windows and am now quite happily running XP. I have seen & played with W7 & Vista and am not impressed. I have also read about W8 and am even less impressed. Furthermore, Microsoft will (understandably) be withdrawing support from XP in 2014 and Microsoft's own tool tells me that my system will require updating to accommodate W7. As a final point, I understand that DOS & 16bit program support is also being withdrawn from W8.

XP works absolutely fine for me. True, I run a weekly virus and system update and check using a variety of programs, but now that I've got it down to a fine art, I simply set it going and then walk away and do something else. I cannot remember the last time that I know I was attacked by malicious software – maybe my firewall and anti-virus are doing their job. I do not get crashes unless I have been poking about. I seldom have to reboot, and then it is usually only because one of the antivirus etc programs has been updated and requires a reboot. I also dissuade programs from calling home, automatically looking for updates etc – this is done when I say so, not when the machine wants to do it. In short, my system does what I want it to do, when I want it to do it.

I also have a DOS program which works fine under XP.

My equipment is a pair of laptops, one for main use, one for backup. Plus the usual other stuff.

Now, I object strongly to having to discard software that does what I want. I also object strongly to having to discard hardware which works fine and which does what is required simply because Microsoft and/or other providers will not provide software to operate this hardware with later versions of Windows. (I have recently had to scrap an old but working scanner which would not work under W7 and swap a printer for which there was no suitable W7 software. Fortunately, I was able to swap it with one that did have the appropriate software.) For what it is worth, it is my belief that at some time in the future, due to the ever diminishing earth's resources, we will all have to make equiment last a lot longer, hence manufacturers of both software and hardware will be required to support equipment for much longer as we, the human race, simply will not be able to afford the scrapping of otherwise serviceable equipment.

My choices therefore are to spend lots of money on upgrading, stick with XP essentially forever, change to Macs, or slowly move over to Linux. Upgrading or changing to Mac will cost a lot of money and require the scrapping of perfectly good equipment. Sticking with XP will eventually run the risk of anti-virus etc software becoming incompatible with XP (I have already experienced this with Windows 2000). I have therefore decided that slowly, I will move over to Linux and whilst this will be a whole new learning curve, I do have perhaps 2 years in which to do it, and the cost will be nil. In fact, the main problem I will have is finding replacements for Paint Shop Pro, (possibly The Gimp), Design Cad, and the DOS program – but there is a chance these latter two may work using Wine or equivalent. I already use Firefox, Thunderbird and Open/Libre Office all of which have Linux versions.

Whilst I know that this is not what you wish to hear, perhaps you should consider taking charge of your machine, eg restrict what it can do on its own, ie phone-home, set up a dedicated regular method of updating (I'm sure that you could possibly manage a week or three without updating and without running inordinate risks), and long term consider slowly moving to Linux.

Unless of course, you absolutely wish to abandon the concept of the PC.

Regards,

Peter G. Shaw

I'd say get a Mac if you fancy one.

They're no more secure than a PC, but probably less likely to be targeted, due to their smaller user group, but from what I've seen they're just as good at hosting viruses as any other internet connected device.

I just wonder how much real difference you might see with your dial-up connection though.

The eye wash comes from certain companies that have it in their best interest to sell you the next version, with their software tending to promote a feeling of unease by constantly warning you that the web page you've just gone to looks dodgy and that the file you've just download may contain something they haven't seen before etc.

Where would they be without the virus writers?

Microsoft Security Essentials doesn't do that on any of my systems, it just does its stuff unobtrusively and costs me nothing. Microsoft has to provide something to safeguard their Operating Systems – or they'd soon be out of business, due to the vandals out there.

When a new virus is released, non of the intended targets are immune, no matter what protection you may have installed. So whichever platform you plump for, you can still be at risk and still be a host if you choose not to install security updates.

Martin.

I switched from the hell that was Microsoft based just about 6 years ago now. I only wish i had done it sooner. I haven't had a single problem since, whereas with a pc there was always something going wrong or playing up or not working properly in some way or other

it took me about a week to get used to the OS. the hardest part for me was getting used to the preferences [finding where everything was] and the menus. You expect some things to take you ages to work out but in fact they take you minutes [such as sorting out networks]. That for me was the comparison between the two. MS makes you jump through hoops and across flaming coals to make some things happen. In OSX the same things are done with just a click or two.

Mac OS updates are few and far between and are quite painless, simple and relatively unobtrusive. Some of them may be quite huge, but you can always delay and download at a more convenient time to you. You never get forced to complete an update like you do with MS.
I DONT have any MS software installed on my machines now and nor will I ever again. there are many ways to skin cats and most of them are far better and much less painful than the MS way.

For office type software there are many free options that rival the MS offering, and also many paid options. All offer MS compatibility if you need it. The paid options are also considerably cheaper too.
The only thing i can see that MS office has to offer any more is its unquestionable MS office compatibility…..!

Once you learn an OSX interface layout, you have learnt all of them, as all programs keep to a strict layout profile demanded of them by Apple. Meaning that all menus look the same and function in the same way. Which means that once you know where all the main options are, you don't have to go searching for them when you use another program from another publisher. They are always in the same place. It makes life so much easier.

I dont use an anti-virus every day. Dont need one yet. There are 1 or 2 problems out there floating about. All trojans. No known virus. But if your just bopping about the internet doing normal everyday things then you'll be just fine. if your downloading cracked and dodgy software every day then you might get caught out. But even then you'll probably be OK as the threat is minimal compared to MS based machines. Compare 5 or 6 threats on Mac OS to the 100s of 1000s of threats on a MS based machine.
I do though have a virus scanner installed that I run every now and then when I remember. Like I will now, now that I have remembered that I have it installed But it will come back with nothing found. That Im pretty sure of.

Initial outlay for an Apple product is fairly high compared to a cheap MS based machine. But for that you get a machine that works. A machine that has everything you need [barring software]. And Id say a stress free life, because my life certainly has been far simpler since I dumped MS software and cheap generic PC hardware.

in the 6 years that I have had an Imac, I have watched as my MIL has bought one for her own use [she used to be petrified of a PC but now uses her iMac like a pro], she also bought 3 iMacs to replace the MS based machines that they used in their business because of this. The changeover went smoothly, including the purchase and changeover [major step] of accounting software from MS based [Quickbooks] to a company that actually gave proper helpful and useful support when asked [unlike the supposed Intuit support]. And quite a few friends around the country have also bought Macbooks and iMacs and dumped MS and have said that they are so glad that they did that they too wished they had done it sooner rather than later. Not one of them is missing any MS software and has found comparable alternatives to anything that they used regularly.

All of this is based simply on my usage of Apple products over the past few years. No guesswork or speculation. Nor am I a fanboi or a fanatic. I use Firefox as my main browser and I use Apple mail as my main email client. 99% of all webpages and the internet in general work as it should [except this site which doesnt even work properly even when its working as intended !]
All of my software updates are done as soon as they appear and none have given me any trouble.

A little long, sorry about that, but at least you get the picture.

Id say get one, and don't look back

My advice would be, save your money (or spend it on tools for the workshop) and try PCLinux OS running on your PC. I have both my computers set up to dual boot giving me the choice of Windows or Linux and haven't booted Windows for six months or so.

Liux is based on Unix just like MacOS so doesn't suffer viruses like Windows. Being a true multi user system the security was built in from the start, not bolted on later like windows. I agree that Ubuntu gets a bit of getting used to but if you choose a Linux distribution with the KDE desktop you will find it similar to Windows. One such distribution is here. It comes with a full Office suite, photo editor (GIMP), and much more already installed and there are thousands of programs available (free) from the repository. You can try it before installation by running it from the CD before installing. When you install you can install it as dual boot alongside Windows and you will be able to access all your existing files from Linux.

For CAD there is a Linux version of DraftSight available, also free.

Any questions just ask.

Russell – no connection other than being a satisfied user for four years.

Sort of off topic BUT…Might not the solution be sort out the broadband problem ( which would still be a problem to MAC/unix /linix etc.)..broadband via mobile?

Is it available ? Is it cheap enough?….you can even run sw on your phone to make it your wifi router/modem..( battery life?)

Just a thought.

My boss kept asking me to port my 3D rendering SW to his Mac.

So, I did. Before I knew it, it was the end of the Linux and Windows computers in my workspace.

Yes, there was some headscratching, but the move was the best thing I could have done for my sanity.

I'm now back to Ubuntu for LinuxCNC on computers in my workshop, but OSX is still the OS of choice for my general usage.

FWIW;

Another JohnS.