The (mostly) virus free nature of Mac OSX explained
By Jonathan Schlaffer
The argument could go on forever and ever. Why aren’t there any practical viruses and no spyware on OSX? As any good Mac user knows, at its core OSX is Unix and the core part of Unix has been around for a good 20 years and in that time there has been no practical virus or spyware for that operating system. Part of their secret is no backwards compatibility with classic (OS9 and earlier) applications.
It has been debated that if OSX had a majority market share, say as much as Microsoft does then there would be just as many ills on OSX as there are for Microsoft operating systems. John Martellaro of the Mac Observer does not think that would be the case.
I don’t know much about the early Mac OS but I do know that it became quite unstable during the Mac OS8 and Mac OS9 series. At this point Apple decided to dump support for classic applications and build a new, better, more reliable operating system and they had the technology.
Mac OSX, a completely new redesigned operating system based on Unix. Having left every classic application in the dust the problems from those operating systems and programs could not be brought over to OSX, this is something Microsoft has not been able to do (but had the chance to do so back in the late 90s).
Windows maintains backwards compatibility in one form or another in every single version though just try to get a Windows 9x program to run on Vista and just see how far you get (you won’t get far…). Still, even Vista is not an entirely new operating system as at least some code from Windows Server and XP was recycled for use in Vista but nothing older than that.
Vista is a step forward for Microsoft; many of the problems that plagued XP are gone but replaced with entirely new ones. It would be impossible for Microsoft to say “we’re no longer going to support older applications at all and instead… we’re starting over”.
Apple has a relatively small user base and it was more feasible for them to make that move and that at least in part is responsible for the almost completely spyware and virus free Mac OSX. I don’t expect that to stop the debates which will continue until the end of time or until Apple or Microsoft are no longer in existence, whichever comes first.
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April 12th, 2007
I work at GE and my job is to test software for vulnerabilities. I also test new software. Some of the things you said in your post are just ridiculous. I actually laughed a few things at what you said. I use both OSX and Vista and I find both to have there advantages. If Macs had 95% market share, they would have just as many viruses and spyware. No doubt about it. Yes Unix was out for 20 years but how many people used it or ever heard of it? Most people don’t know what it is.
But you are missing the big point. It is not how many viruses or spyware a OS has. It is how fast you fix it. It is a fact that Microsoft does a much better job than any other company. This morning i turned on my vista PC and it told me new updates are aviable. It asked me to install it. Vista has already downloaded it. How simple is that? I think Linux will soon take macs maketshare. It is free and every similiar to Mac. Plus you are biased .
April 12th, 2007
“It has been debated that if OSX had a majority market share, say as much as Microsoft does then there would be just as many ills on OSX as there are for Microsoft operating systems.” I believe that covers your first statement, it’s being debated and it will continue to be debated… I did not expect this post to solve it.
“It is not how many viruses or spyware a OS has. It is how fast you fix it.” Yes, Microsoft does fix things faster than everyone else (you would be foolish to think that I don’t use Windows XP and Vista because I do) but I think the point is how likely the exploit is going to be pursued. The chances of an exploit on OSX being exploited are less than on a Windows system.
Before Microsoft can release a patch for something, there is already an exploit for it and sometimes it’s already in the wild. How many instances can you count where something similar happened with OSX. You could probably use one hand to count them, maybe not even that much.
Not to mention the endless spyware scans you need to do on a Windows system even with the most careful browsing, it’s just sad really.
April 12th, 2007
Tim,
I don’t know what they’re putting in the coffee over there at GE, but let me tell you, I had to laugh at you laughing at Jonathan’s comment. First of all, your entire argument for why Windows is superior to OS-X is completely baseless: the argument that because Windows sends out more fixes in a more rapid fashion doesn’t mean its more secure…it means that Windows NEEDS to send out fixes, whereas OSX does not. How does that make Windows MORE secure? Your logic is sadly flawed.
Secondly, if you truly were responsible for testing all software for flaws, you would have come up with the same conclusions as that survey a while back stating that the only instances Apple has had in the last year regarding flaws pertained to non-threatening issues. I can tell you as a Mac users, the only “updates’ I get are beneficial additions to iWeb, iChat, etc. Occasionally there are firmware updates, but I can tell you I’m never worrying about updating my virus definitions.
Furthermore, if you were truly responsible for testing software for flaws, you would realize that the reason windows gets a “get out of jail free” card is because they dont’ incorporate any virus protection worth mentioning. How come they are such strong advocates of 3rd party virus software? One, because it’s a business and Microsoft wants to keep their conspirators happy. Secondly, because as Microsoft relies on 3rd party supporters for virus protection, they can displace the blame for all of the exploits to the 3rd party programs…not their own faulty software.
My question to you is what exactly is your roll at GE? Are you an IT specialist? Are you responsible for monitoring the corporate intranets and managing both Macs and Windows-based machines on the same network? Because trying out OSX once and saying that Vista is more secure…well..you just sound a tad ignorant. Even Vista users will be the first ones to tell you they’ve already been through plenty of patches and fixes…more than OS X has been through this year. Get your facts straight please.
April 15th, 2007
Tristan,
where in Tim’s post is he saying that Windows is superior? Sounds like you only hear what you want to hear. The notion that Mac OS has less viruses due to lack of compatibility is silly, it really has to do with marketshare. Guess how many viruses or spyware does BeOS have? I am a software developer. I tried writing and releasing software for Macs once. I happened to use a multiplatform dev tool so I also created a Windows version. I marketed the software only to mac groups. Guess what, one year later, 80% of the users of that app are Windows users. Go figure.
April 25th, 2007
has anyone else read this whole exchange and thought “what the fuck”
August 16th, 2007
Types Of Computer Viruses
I couldn’t understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting
September 11th, 2007
Computer Network Security
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May 15th, 2008
Oh ya - Mac OS, so secure. Do a quick sort of security downloads; 4.5 pages of security downloads.
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/index_abc11.html