A few questions for the Mac Users

[Jschatz]

1. Do you run any form of an anti-spy/spam/virus/malware software, if so which one? Yes I know there are no known major virus for OS X currently.

2. For those of you that run windows on your Mac how do you do it? Boot camp, parallels, VMware, other? I am looking at running windows 7 ultimate x64.

3. Have you ever done a boot camp install and then used one of the virtulization programs to load the install?

Thanks for all the relative input.

 

[aestus]

I don't run any spyware / spam / virus software. Don't need it.

For windows, I used to run it on boot camp. Just run bootcamp and follow the instructions. The OS X dvd has all the windows drivers required to run Win 7 natively with absolutely no work from you other than to click the OK button.

Now, I only run Win 7 64bit ultimate through a free Virtualization software from Sun Microsystems called VirtualBox. Unless you really need to do some really advanced and weird VM ninja hackery, VirtualBox is all you need. It's decently fast and free. Most web developers and programmers will either prefer VirtualBox or VMWare Fusion to run Windows in virtualization. If you need 3d performance out of your windows virtualization, then Parallels is the better option. If you need max performance in windows on a mac, then use boot camp instead to boot into windows natively.

With VMWare Fusion (and I'm pretty sure with Parallels also) you can skip boot camp and use VMware to boot directly into your windows partition or drive "natively." I haven't compared the speeds between this vs using boot camp. In my opinion, if you need the maximum windows performance with full 3d support, just use boot camp and boot natively.

About the only thing I ever use windows for on my Mac these days is testing websites on different versions of Internet Explorer to make sure websites render properly in them.

 

[Barike]

I think it a fallacy that the Mac does not need antivirus software. I have been using Mac computers for well over 15 years and am going to school for cyber security at present. On my personal computer I have ClamXav installed for antivirus duties.

I have Windows installed in both Bootcamp, and VMware Fusion. I tried Parallels one time and did not like it at all.

As for your third question, I'm not sure I understand the question, so I can't accurately answer.

Hope this helps

 

[poopgiggle]

1. Do you run any form of an anti-spy/spam/virus/malware software, if so which one?

ClamAV

Yes I know there are no known major virus for OS X currently.

If I recall correctly this is false.

If I don't recall correctly, it won't be true for very long.

Ignore anyone who says MAC OS IS UBER SECURE LOL because they don't know what they're talking about

2. For those of you that run windows on your Mac how do you do it? Boot camp, parallels, VMware, other? I am looking at running windows 7 ultimate x64.

VirtualBox

 

[poopgiggle]

I don't run any spyware / spam / virus software. Don't need it.

Welp enjoy having your identity stolen by a Bulgarian teenager.

 

[Go_Ordnance]

+1 on Mac needing virus protection. Biggest issue is that you can pass along email, word document, etc... viruses; even though you aren't infected. I use Norton, but that's because the Army provides it for free.

I tried the virtual machine (can't remember if it was VM Fusion or Parallels), but I didn't like it. Much easier (for me) to just reboot into windows. I run Win7x64 via bootcamp.

 

[aestus]

Welp enjoy having your identity stolen by a Bulgarian teenager.

Not likely. I'm not saying that there isn't viruses or spamware on Macs, but the number of them are low and has maybe a slightly higher risk of being infected than running a linux distro as your OS. If you know what you're doing, you have a very very low chance of getting malware even on a PC with no spyware blockers or anti-virus software.

I don't even run any of this on my gaming PC that I play WoW on. Had a bet with a friend a few months ago about spyware and malware and for giggles we installed his AV software and a couple of spyware detectors on my machine to see how clean my machine actually was. All it found was suspicious cookies and thought IE tester (used for testing websites in different versions of Internet Explorer) was malware. I've pretty much used a computer in my daily life since I was 13 and the last time I've ever had any virus or malware infections on a PC was back in 2001, mainly due to looking for software cracks for paid software I didn't want to buy using Internet Explorer, rofl. Windows 95/98 was such a crap OS in terms of security.

It's not that hard. Just don't use Internet Explorer (especially an older version. If you're still using IE 6 or 7, Plz upgrade now or better yet, use firefox) and that will eliminate 70% of your security holes. Be mindful of what you install, what links you click, and don't read Nigerian scam emails. I don't use MS word, it's mostly google docs or Apple Pages.

Plus, I'm fairly knowledgeable in most non-malicious methods of data mining / user tracking, and even some of the more malicious methods from back when I worked for a certain company. Almost all of the bigger "legit" sites will use these methods / services to mine user activity / demographics data.

 

[gsarg]

OSX 10.4 and prior, AV
OSX 10.5 and later, no

 

[gyolai]

Welp enjoy having your identity stolen by a Bulgarian teenager.

lol! With people like that 20 year old GeoHot kid hacking Iphone OS i dont think anyone is truly safe....

 

[poopgiggle]

words words words

My previous flippant remark still stands. Just because you're careful with web browsing and patch management doesn't mean you're invulnerable.

Viruses these days aren't the "deleted your filez lol" stupid crap they were in the 90s. They're now primarily used by organized crime to either hijack your computer to send spam (more common) or to steal (and sell) your personal information, including your credit card information. If you're not running AV software, which has an incredibly high benefit to cost&effort ratio, you're either ignorant of the threat or you're stupid.

That said, AV software alone isn't enough and people should be doing what you're doing (other than not running AV software) in order to be safe.

EXCEPT finding crackz/warez. Don't do that; they often have malware in them. I found a rootkit on a guy's machine a few months ago that made its way onto his system from a warez version of Adobe Illustrator.

E: Also saying "I'VE BEEN USING COMPUTERS IN MY PERSONAL LIFE SINCE..." is rarely impressive. My mom used to program in Fortran on punch cards and can still use a DOS command line like a champ but doesn't understand why she shouldn't open attachments in chain emails from friends.