Free AVG and online banking ?

[GaRRy]

All these buy a mac or use Linus posters as then you dont have to worry about virus's are one daying going to really get their fingers burnt. The only reason Windows has more virus's is because it the largest target making it the most worthwhile.

As Android on phones (which is a version of linux) gets more and more popular you can expect more virus's for linux as it will be more worth the hackers effort. (There are already anti virus apps for android phones).

And if Macs are so secure how come every so often you get recommended security updates to install ?.

Any and all computer systems can and are hacked and to think by using something else you a immune is completly naive.

oh and if any one thinks i may be biased. I have and use all of the above all the time (Windows,MAC OSX,Linux (Raspberry pi)) and they all have their pluses and minus's

Current personal preference is my Mac book Air but not because its more secure just that I find it easiest to use.

 

[flecc]

Why don't Macs need the burden of anti-virus software slowing them down? Microsoft are a big company, why is it that they can't get the operating system right?

Microsoft operating systems are still most of the market so are the main target for hackers, few aim at Mac, hence the differing needs for AV software and the constant need for security updates on Windows. The same problem afflicts the most important third party programs for Windows, they too needing security updates.

Microsoft OSs do have the intrinsic problem that they are developed by addition, each generation growing ever larger. Originally a few kilobytes, today's NT5 based Windows OS is several gigabytes in size, much of it old or development material just cluttering the hard drive. Another problem is caused by their policy of having a single installation program for all versions of an OS, the disc you buy containing only the key to access the version you've bought but installing on your drive all the material for all versions, including even the server edition. All that clutter has the potential for tripping up, hence the crashes.

 

[trex]

it's not fiction, all operating systems can be attacked if three things are true: the target machine uses a popular processor, the target machine uses a popular operating system and the target machine is connected to the internet. Check this wiki: Metasploit Project - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The smart move is to assume that part of your system is already invaded, how do you lock the rest of your system to obfuscate the attacks? I use TruCrypt to keep sensitive files on my PC and RDP to run MS Office on a clean MS server.