Is everyone crazy?
Two big stories today that I don't understand. Can anyone help?
1. Apple is suddenly warning its users to use Anti-Virus software. Apple has always recommended anti-virus software - especially to enterprise customers. They do it because they want Apple users to be safe and for Virus makers to know that their user base is protected.
Do a quick search on Apple Docs and you'll find a number of them. Here's one from 2002. Here's one from earlier this year. There are plenty more. This isn't at all new.
6) Check for Viruses
Macs are far more less likely to get a computer virus like Windows PCs are prone to but that doesn't mean it's impossible. If you don't already have antivirus software, you may want to consider making a purchase. If you have the software installed, be sure to keep your virus definitions up to date—you can find the latest updates on your software manufacturer's website.
I mean didn't they used to give out Virex with a .Mac accounts? WTF.
2. Also, Mini DisplayPort is going to be licensed for free? It is a VESA-approved open standard that Apple has no control over. Displayport has 20 pins. Mini DisplayPort has 20 pins. The "mini" isn't any sort of technology. It is just an adapter. It is like saying I am going to license mini-USB adapters. 4 pin to 4 pin.
Apple may want to help other companies make parts for their hardware but they are by no means licensing the DisplayPort Technology. Nor is there any technology in a DisplayPort to Mini DisplayPort adapter.
Am I nuts?
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Comments (32)
No, you're not nuts. The problem is that the public often confuses Apple Inc. with Apple's Customers.
Apple's *very vocal* customers have a habit of shouting that anti-virus software on a Mac is worthless (in fact, I've been witness to quite a few Mac Specialists in Apple Stores saying the same thing). Apple Inc. is smart enough to know that saying such a thing would be a PR disaster and is completely untrue.
Sad that people confuse the two.
P.S. I hate your captcha :)
they have and ad campaign of no viruses on macs man...
They don't really say that theres no viruses for mac...
"Last year there were 114,000 known viruses for PCs"... mac guy says for "PCs, not macs" suggesting that there is not 114,000 for macs. He doesn't say there is none...
As a Windows desktop support guy, I WISH there were only 114,00 viruses for Windows. The truth is that it is RELENTLESS, with BotNets attacking every machine in sight.
all they are doing with the mini display port is taking care of the fees for interested parties wanting to produce mini display ports that fit the new Unibody MacBooks and MacBook Pros. So Apple is just paying some bills not actually licensing anything
http://developer.apple.com/softwarelicensing/agreements/minidisplayport....
Not licensing displayport, licensing the MINI displayport proprietary connector
They're not licensing the DisplayPort spec, they're licensing their own customer designed Mini DisplayPort connector tech, not the signals that go over the connector. The connector is a physical device that can be patented, they're offering licenses to use the MiniDP design for free. see: http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2008/12/01/apple-offers-free-l...
How is this news? in the launch for the unibody macbooks/pros it was clearly stated that the miniDP was part of a new industry standard, the DisplayPort, just in a different form factor.
Mini DisplayPort is owned by Apple, DisplayPort is a Vesa standard but the Mini DisplayPort connector is Apple's own creation, basically they took a standard DisplayPort connector and smooshed it into a smaller package.
Wow, not one person in this thread posted without any typos, unforgivable spelling or atrocious grammar.
"Apple's" Apple is?
"jsu tnot"
"unibodu"
again; "Apple's"
lrn2 possesive & contraction
lrn2 isn't a word.
Just to clarify...
Apple's is valid to use when it implies possession. It can also mean Apple is as you suggest, but it is completely proper to use it as Apple's when referring to its customers.
Don't throw stones when you live in a glass house.
Anon, I'm the first to praise and welcome a good dose of grammar nazism but usually it's done by people who actually know grammar in the first place ;)
Apple's = of Apple | Apple is | Apple has
check possessive apostrophe rules and the saxon genitive
"Macs are far more less likely..."
This phrase was in official documentation!?
No one has suggested a good Anti Virus software yet, not that I'm going to need one, but for those that may need one. to be honest if your not sure what your downloading or an e-mail from someone you don't know, your just asking for trouble!
... there isn't a good AV product. All of them have some fatal flaw, around nagging, performance, reliability.
For the Mac, I recommend you do some research. I've used Sophos in a corporate environment, but it doesn't seem to support every configuration, and visually, I'd say it looks like it was written in 1996 - for OS 8.
But it seems to perform well for me. I'm not sure how reliable it would be in a virus attack situation. But it has identified dozens of Windows viruses since I've been running it.
Clam AV is free but doesn't auto protect. Norton Sucks. I have never used anything else so I can't help any further.
Apple is probably reccomending Anti-Virus Software for legal reasons: even though an Anti-Virus for a Mac is actually useless for most consumers, Macs can be vulnerable to malicious software (100% protection cannot exist for a computer connected to the internet), and fo that reason, Apple could be sued by someone affected from a Virus/malware, and Apple doesn't want that to happen.
Exactly, thank you. If there are commercials giving the impression that Apple is warrantying: Windoz sux; Macs invulnerable. Then when some user sues because they are infected, Apple wants to be able to handily win the motino ot dismiss. Without the chain of antivirus recommendations referenced in the post, it is harder to win those motions.
The Mini DisplayPort on the MacBooks *isn't* just a mini version of DisplayPort.
The Mini DisplayPort connector on the MacBooks has a pin containing analog video. DisplayPort is digital audio and video only.
As pointed out, Apple has officially suggested for some time that users employ antivirus software. The main reason to do so is not to find mac-specific malware, but to avoid passing on toxic bits to windows users.
This is news now, because our beloved platform is suddenly being paid attention to. It /is/ news now.
Geez - this shows up on the BBC news page, my clients are suddenly contacting me out of the blue asking about this, we're being parodied on the Simpson's... damn it's good to be a gangsta!
Hell, a good friend of mine who LOATHES the Apple fandom just bought his daughter an iPod for Christmas. Indeed, these are strange times we live in.
Oh - and I completely agree with everyone who thinks that this is nothing more than a CYA move by Apple.
I am quite concern about virus since I started using Parallels to run windows on my mac...
I am quite concern about virus since I started using Parallels to run windows on my mac...
you're right to be concerned: you've contracted a virus that duplicates your forum posts!
I haven't had the slightest hint of a virus in over a decade using Mac. The last one I had was in OS 8 or 9, and I fixed that using some ancient shareware at the time. How do would we even know if the AV software was working? Seems to me like a better bet is to back up and reinstall if on the off chance you get a virus once in 20 years.
Sounds to me like someone at Apple HQ got a virus...
so with new market share eventually the illusion of there being no viruses for the mac will likewise diminish.
Can you imagine a world if the Mac OSX market share was like 25%?
It would be open season for the virus makers.
It's not an illusion at the moment. There are Trojans, yes, but no viruses yet.
All other gripes aside, of the various, admittedly buggy Mac virus software titles available, what, if any, titles are people using with any degree of success (or the least amount of grief)?