wbruce's Profile

Charles Miller (one of the pwn2own winners this year, former CIA, foremost Mac OS X security expert in the world, and self-avowed regular Mac user): "With my Safari exploit, I put the code into a process and I know exactly where it’s going to be. There’s no randomization. I know when I jump there, the code is there and I can execute it there. On Windows, the code might show up but I don’t know where it is. Even if I get to the code, it’s not executable. Those are two hurdles that Macs don’t have." (http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=2941) The fact of the matter is, NO, in the estimation of the top security experts in the field, Macs are not more secure than the latest flavors of Windows. In fact, security experts are ironically ridiculing Windows for making the most secure consumer-level operating system ever (Vista), and still having it be perceived as fundamentally insecure. The fact of the matter is, Macs are safer, because they represent a minuscule portion of the global market share, but not more secure. The same reasons we love Macs, the quick and powerful access to the raw power of the OS, are the reasons why it is easy for people who want to take the time to exploit program flaws. Leopard introduced address randomization, for example, but implemented it so poorly that it might as well not have been included. Don't pull the wool over your eyes. Windows 7, frankly, is a good looking and functional version of the Windows experience, the best yet; actually, it looks a lot better than the hodgepodge of Aqua/Cocoa/Carbon elements in Mac OS X right now. Its main shortcomings are no longer bugs, but differences in OS design philosophy that have always existed between Mac and Windows machines, such as no native disk image support or the application install model. These things will keep Apple's base market of creative professionals who want ease and power in the same package loyal and growing, as long as Apple doesn't continue to bend over backwards to capture the "i have no idea what I'm doing, which computer is for me" crowd. However, in terms of usability and stability, the gap is becoming smaller. as Microsoft learns from Apple's success with window management, launch bar innovation, live search, etc., and Apple needs to keep innovating if they want to continue their momentum. Right now, aside from the philosophy differences between the OS's, what Mac users have going for them over Windows users is a community of Apple product fans who perpetuate a culture of free, easy to understand, well-organized, well-presented tech support material and open source capability extension to the OS. In a way, Apple's loyal user base has become its killer app, a community of people dedicated to extending Apple's ease-of-use philosophy to the way they interact with others. If Apple continues to deride Microsoft for their improvements (while Microsoft increasingly makes the shift towards learning from their mistakes and Apples successes) and cater to the non-technical side of their user base, they risk punching holes in this phenomenon. The fact of the matter is that any OS feature that works well can and will be analyzed and integrated by an agile competitor, which is what Microsoft has once more become. If Apple wants to maintain their momentum, they need to continue to innovate now, before Microsoft's sea change allows them to gain a foothold of their own in what was once Apple's strongest unassailable asset: the loyal, knowledgeable user. That said, Mac OS X still clearly has the best ratio of power, simplicity, and stability, and there's no way in hell I'm switching :D But I don't mind dual booting to play games so much anymore, now that there's a photocopy of the Dock at the bottom of the screen. Feels like home away from home. HA