Linked by David Adams on Mon 6th Oct 2003 19:34 UTC
It's an oft-repeated maxim that one of the reasons that Windows operating systems are plagued by so many viruses, worms, and security exploits is because they are so popular. Extrapolating on this, many have remarked that if Linux, MacOS, or other OSes become more popular, they will attract the attention of virus writers. That may be true, but the increased attention will not necessarily yield the same quantity of viruses and other exploits, says a Register article. Update: Rebuttal article.
Permalink for comment
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
http://www.macdailynews.com/comments.php?id=P1804_0_1_0_C
- "Administrator accounts in Windows (and therefore viruses that exploit it) have access to all areas of the operating system. In Mac OS X, even an administrator canít touch the files that drive the operating system itself. A Mac OS X virus (if there were such a thing) could theoretically wipe out all of your files, but wouldnít be able to access anyone else's stuff -- and couldn't touch the operating system itself."