Yes, Macs are plagued with as many (and sometimes more) vulnerabilities as other operating systems. These are the doors attackers use to exploit our systems, and Macs are far from invulnerable. But the truth is that in the real world, Macs suffer from far fewer compromises. This is the difference between security and safety. A highly secure home in a bad neighborhood is still more likely to be robbed than a less secure home in a safer area. Mac market share is probably an important reason here, as is the history of the platform, the focus of the bad guys, and a host of other factors
Category: Apple
Living with Tiger in a Leopard World
This week, my work-supplied MacBook Pro is having its logic board and optical drive replaced, so I’m using a 1Ghz Titanium PowerBook (pictured here) as my main machine for a while. I figured hauling my aluminum iMac around would be a bad idea.
With a 1Ghz G4 and 1GB of RAM, this TiBook (the last revision of the series) exceeds the minimum requirements for Leopard. While the 64MB of video RAM is pretty wimpy, it’s enough to get the job done. Regrettably, the TiBook shipped with a 4,200 RPM hard drive - which is miserably slow. To add insult to injury, the drive seems to be on its last legs. With its low-end specs and a slow drive, Leopard didn’t run well on the machine. I may try again once its new 5,400 RPM drive comes in later this week, but for now the TiBook is running 10.4.11.
MacBook Pro Users Get REP
In July 2008, NVIDIA publicly acknowledged a higher than normal failure rate for some of their graphics processors due to a packaging defect. At that same time, NVIDIA assured Apple that Mac computers with these graphics processors were not affected. However, after an Apple-led investigation, Apple has determined that some MacBook Pro computers with the NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics processor may be affected. If the NVIDIA graphics processor in your MacBook Pro has failed, or fails within three years of the original date of purchase, a repair will be done free of charge, even if your MacBook Pro is out of warranty.
CNET Gets Dreamy
CNET has put together a list of things they’d like to see out of an Apple tablet.
The list is pretty comprehensive, but I agree with the writer that 2010 is the earliest we’ll see anything like this from Apple - if we see it at all.
Behold, The Titanium
The Titanium PowerBook was the first notebook from Apple to feature the G4 processor.
At 1-inch thick, sporting a 15-inch widescreen display and wrapped in metal, the notebook caught everyone by surprise. The design is proving timeless. The Unibody MacBook and MacBook Pros are built like the Titanium - a thin plate on the bottom with all the insides built into the top case. Not to mention the black keyboard being back in style.
One-to-One Getting Overhauled
Beginning June 2, Apple will also make significant changes to its One-to-One personal training service geared towards helping new Mac customers get the most out their systems.
Currently, anyone who’s willing to pay $99 can sign up for a year’s worth of the training service, but Johnson says Apple will start limiting signups to only those customers who purchase a Mac at an Apple retail store or the Apple online store. Legacy users won’t be booted from the program, however, and will be offered the opportunity to renew their subscription for the same $99.
‘Not His Superpower’
Perhaps the best thing I’ve read on the Jobs/Woz relationship, written by John Siracusa:
By all accounts, Steve Jobs is no engineer. He was never a programming maven like Bill, nor was he a hardware wiz like Woz. On his own, Jobs could not create much of anything. But that’s not his superpower.
Though a good critic can influence the community of creators, in the end, he does not create anything himself. But take that critic and put him in charge of the creators. Make him, let’s say, the founder, CEO, and spiritual leader of several thousand of the most talented engineers and artists in the computer industry. What might happen then?
Apple’s Media Pad/Tablet Ideas (c. 1987)
The video is set in 2011.
Damn It, Rob Enderle
The man’s “blogging” is just an extension of his work for the big companies that have hired him as a consultant.
So I was shocked when I actually agreed with him about something:
The company has Al Gore on its board and could lead in efforts to prevent global warming, but there is no effort to take Apple to solar power on record – or any other global warming program that I can find – and when it comes to green products, Apple had to be dragged kicking and screaming to make changes. Granted, that was mostly Greenpeace using Apple as a lightning rod, but Apple should have been leading there.
Revolutionaries Get Overtaken
With so much now at stake, some experts suggest the iPhone will soon become the most important technology Apple’s empire has produced, even, potentially, eclipsing the computer business that revolutionised our lives in the 1980s. There are an estimated 1bn personal computers in use worldwide, but that many mobile phones are sold every year and for many people their first experience of computing will be through a mobile phone.
On Macs in the Newsroom and Rhapsody
Check out this 1997 post by Shane F. Iseminger about the pros and cons of having Apple computers in the newsroom:
Apple is far from going out of business if you look at their stats - the mainstream press tech articles, which have decided they can’t say “Apple” without using the words “beleagured”, “ailing”, “ and ”struggling", aren’t always accurate. The mumblings that Apple will be gone in six months have been circulating for a year and a half. They have problems to solve, but they’ve solved most all of the ones threatening their welfare. They aren’t losing much money, if any, and have consistently produced some very high-quality hardware and software over the past 9 months. Many companies have been worse off than Apple ever was and come back. And secondly, Apple still has close to $1 billion in cash and lots of assets that can be transformed into cash should it be needed, and that’s doubtful. Thirdly, if Apple were to go anywhere, the Mac OS and the upcoming NT-class Rhapsody OS will be picked up by someone. And the new G3 machines, which generally outperform Pentium II machines of the same clock speed, are selling well as is Mac OS 8. Short answer: the Mac OS isn’t going to die soon. Not a concern.
On Unneeded Nerdgasms
Today, the Apple Store apparently when offline for a bit. TUAW:
Apple Store down on a Sunday? Well, that’s unusual. Price drops? New gear? Regular maintenance? We’ll know soon enough.
The Boy Genius Report also reported it. Honestly, I’m surprised the bigger blogs like Engadget and Gizmodo didn’t post something as well. The Internet gets all crazy when Apple pulls their online store down. Nothing new, of course, but this comes to mind: