Why Microsoft is Going to Lose the OS Wars

Expect to see some dramatic announcements soon about Longhorn not having all the functionality we thought it would have. Apple's upcoming integrated search will steal Longhorn's thunder.

chris i would offically like to proclaim my love to you

Ad-aware works great get it at http://www.lavasoftusa.com/

I agree. This just happen to my roommate. she had got all type of spy ware on her system. Luckily lava soft adware and Spy bot Search & Destroy did the trick. Since owning a new ibook I am loving osX much better than the quirks I have experienced with windows xp.

As Mr Gates stuffs Ballmer into the jet engine of his private plane, he yells over the engine's roar with plenty of gusto; 'Steve you retard, you said that SCO would have won by now! Now the whole @#$@# world knows that Longhorn is just a pet-name that I gave you back in college!'

The only problem with switch everyone over to Mac is the feeling of security will be short lived. As hackers notice everyone moving to mac so will they and then history will repeat itself.
While yes Windows maybe insecure and lacking in many departments I believe that if we were to switch to any (and yes linux is included in this statement) other OS we would find some problems there as well. The grass it not greener on the other side it just looks that way.
-Patrick

Geezus – this is the exact same scenario I had with my boo. Adware Search & Destroy were useless at this point. I ended up reinstalling XP.

SShhhhhh don't let the secret out of the bag! That's just what I need, spyware makers to start targeting my platform.

Slight difference between typical OS X setups and XP. Under OS X the users accounts don't have root access so programs running for them can't do all sorts of bad things like they can with XP.

In response to Patrick's post above:
Windows + popularity = the exposure of poorly written, proprietary (ie. not open for anyone to see) code that has security flaws and many unrevealed bugs. The medium of the internet has exposed more and more Windows machines to networking (which is not what Windows was designed for, fyi).
Unix (Linux/BSD/OSX, etc) + popularity = the exposure of (mostly) well written (much more) stable code that has been around for years which is, and has been for years, constantly being tweaked, developed and improved. Unix has been on (and running) networks far longer than Windows and has consequently been able to get cleaned up well before even Windows 95. For example, Windows didn't run DARPA. Therefore, Windows has none of those years of development, particularly networking security, built into it.
I would much rather buy an OS built by a company (OSX is my personal preference) that has built theirs around the latter.
To think that popularity equals insecurity is foolish. Case in point: SSL is the standard used for most security on the web, very popular, does that make SSL insecure? There sure have been hackers banging on it for a long time and it still stands up. Of course, no system is 100% secure, it's about being 'more' secure.
Poor theory IMO, Patrick. BTW, Chris – ABOUT TIME you recommended OSX! ;)

Perhaps what you could have done is to use Hijack This. Cleans out those spyware that is hidden.

I agree. My girlfriend also has XP and I had to come to the rescue not too long ago and reinstall Windows completely. She had worms, spyware, adware, toolbars, the works. I was offered to buy a friend's iBook the other day, and I think I'm gonna do it.

I am saddened that people could do this. I hate spyware, not for me, i can tame it, but for all who are trying to get into computers, its a huge turn off for them and they end up wishing they didn't.. Why? because of the spyware and unsolicited downloads it (sometimes) entails. I overheard a couple one day talking about how much dell computers suck. I thought, “well thats odd, dells aren't that bad” i couldn't help overhear the reason, they said that their dell made a bunch of pop ups come up. To an experienced enough user that may sound silly but to anyone who doesn't know any better, it will be a turn off on computers in general. Sadenning i tell you. This kinds of stuff should be illegal, i mean really, i know too many people with spyware problems, enough so, that i can start my own business helping people purge them. Its nuts! I wish it would go away! I am sick and tired of hearing of people with their beef on computers when its really the spyware they don't know any better about.
-Daniel@amplitude-x.com

I have 2 kids who use this computer almost more than I do, and we run Win XP. We have to be careful, but we haven't had problems like yours. Switching our browser to Firebird/Firefox and Thunderbird for email dramatically reduced the amount of crap showing up on our system.
I'd still love an Apple Notebook, but I am not planning a major switch any time soon. We manage with a little bit of care.
Vicki

This post would be more appropriately titled 'Why IE is Going to Lose the Browser Wars'. Don't get me wrong, I am not pro-microsoft at all, but in this case, the OS is not so much at fault (although it definitely is partially at fault), as the user is, and the browser they are using. I agree with the comment made by Anonymous at 09:54PM (PDT) on Aug 7, 2004 about switching to Firefox. I have been using it since it was called Firebird, and before that I was using Mozilla. Firefox is superior in every way, and I do not know why more people don't switch, even though time after time more IE vulnerabilities keep showing their ugly faces at every corner of the web.
If the user is careful with what programs they install, and uses firefox, no matter what operating system they use, they will not get any spyware or unwanted popups again. I have been spyware and popup free for almost two years now…
- SnoFinK

That is why we have macCompanion online. We help folks move to a better computing environment:
maccompanion

Yes, big problem. I find that a NAT (e.g., Linksys cable/dsl router) helps a lot, in addition to periodically running Spybot and AdAware, and having something like PopUpStopper (PanicWare) plugged in. Not perfect, but reduces the problems to pre-insanity manageable levels.

while you all argue over whos better. The facts remain that thelinux Os is back as true unix as its based on the Amiga os for the Itanium. This means its Much better then either and it (linux ) is true linux not like os x which is half baked linux/bsd – a mess and brings up problems of its own- as Linus Travold says.

Heh, “switch to OS X” for security? Yea, with 8 character maximum passwords (which they've only “fixed” in 10.3). That's really secure.

I agree w/most of the comments that OS X is going to be more secure by default. What bothers me more and more is that people using OS X seem to be setting themselves up for a big fall when an effective virus for that platform is written.
Us geeks are telling people to switch to OS X/Linux/etc. since it is more secure but my fear is that we are instilling them with a false sense of security and still not enough knowledge about how their computer works. I don't believe for a minute that an OS X user would know not to enter their system password when prompted by malware that needs root permissions.
Moving to a more secure OS is a “Good Thing”, however, we need to keep educating people that they need to be smart about what they open and what messages they click OK on.

I had something similar happen to me when I let a friend use my computer. I don't blame my friend, though. I downloaded ad-aware, cause Spybot didn't help, booted into safe mode, and did a full scan: http://www.pcreview.co.uk/thread-4696.php It's a good thing this worked. I was getting ready to throw my PC out the window.

Linus Travold works for apple

Wouldn't most spyware be defeated if users didn't automatically log in with admin rights when browsing on XP?

Chris,
Thank you for recommending the Yahoo toolbar. Eventhough I use FireFox as my primary browser, it's worth launching IE once and a while to clean house.
The other thing I have noticed is that PestPatrol's online scaner, might be giving false positives. I'm not 100% sure, but one particular baddie was listed, but none of the registry components, directories were there and Yahoo didn't pick it up.
I am seriously beginning to consider a Linux dual boot with software to run my favourite Windows-only apps.

Is this some kind of sucker post? You are an idiot if not, you have extolled to the masses your incompetence. I laugh at your stupidity and I gladly say please by all means leave Windows and only talk about Apple OS. You befoul the air with the smell of rotted Mallow and camel flatulence by way of techical viagra neediness.

OS X is not better than Windows because the software library is almost non-existant. If you want to recommend some obscure OS that no one bothers with because no one uses then why not recommend OS 2 Warp instead?

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