Who runs Mac's - DPChallenge Forums

02/21/2014 01:26:30 AM · #26

If you were a hacker, looking for validation and fame, wouldn't it be the coolest thing ever to be one of the pioneers that introduced a super malicious virus to the fast growing Mac community? That Macs are not being hacked due to the "small market" is IMO a myth.

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 ED

02/21/2014 01:32:17 AM · #27

Originally posted by bohemka:

The targets of hackers and virus cooks are enterprise-level companies and governments...

A very good point, and while there are some significant businesses based on Macs (obviously including Apple itself), bragging rights within the hacker community are also a powerful motivator.

Tiny

Apple iPad mini 4

02/21/2014 03:29:45 AM · #28

I love apple and my Mac.

Apple iPhone 5

02/21/2014 06:27:25 AM · #29

I switched to Mac about 5 years ago, mainly because of Windows Vista. Got a 24" iMac first, and loved that; it was so quiet compared to the desktop PC. Now we've gone the whole hog with iPhones, iPad and replaced the WinXP Thinkpad with a MacBook Pro.

Apart from the quietness, I liked the fact I didn't have to keep installing security updates and rebooting, as was often the case with Windows. And I've never had a bluescreen or freeze (or whatever the Mac version is) - In fact, I never reboot the MacBook, I shut the screen, which saves an incredible amount of time.

Unfortunately I'd invested almost 20 years of my life developing software on the Windows platform, so I had to re-learn linux-based technology and coding - Moving from VB, C# and .NET over to Apache, PHP, Python and Java.

Surprisingly, the hardest part was losing the CTRL-C/CTRL-V keystroke for copy/paste (replaced by cmd-C/cmd-V on OSX) - It's surprising how used you get to hitting certain keys. And CTRL-C does something totally different in a terminal window...

Message edited by author 2014-02-21 06:28:59.

FromDaRock

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS II USM Lens

02/21/2014 06:39:10 AM · #30

Originally posted by scalvert:

Originally posted by rcollier:
It still is attributed to the smaller numbers.

Only in the sense that odd behavior is still attributed to witchcraft. If anything, the dearth of Apple malware makes them a BIGGER target than PCs, yet a doubling of the installed user base over the past 5 years has not led to a predicted surge in viruses... largely because its system level password requirement is not as vulnerable to self-installing bugs.

I never claimed that it being attributed to smaller numbers was correct, only that it is, and that the smaller numbers part it still correct, AFAIK (I did not research what the current ratios were, I know that years ago, about 10% of the PC market were Macs, I suspect it is probably a little larger by now).

I was simply pointing out the flaw in claiming the Mac market was not 'small' by including tablets and smartphones.

I have no doubt that the Mac OS is more secure, but it is still far from invulnerable. Mac users can no doubt feel more comfortable in this regard, but denying that it can happen is pure 'ignorance is bliss'.

Mike

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD Canon Mount

02/21/2014 06:40:36 AM · #31

wasn't there a high profile piece of malware that made it way through the mac world a few years ago?

i find it interesting how well mac is able to control their brand so that this myth continues to have weight and no one ever holds them accountable for lying to the customers.

Message edited by author 2014-02-21 06:46:59.

02/21/2014 08:08:39 AM · #32

Originally posted by rcollier:

I know that years ago, about 10% of the PC market were Macs, I suspect it is probably a little larger by now).

I think it's over 13% in the U.S. now (and higher within the laptop segment).

Originally posted by rcollier:

I was simply pointing out the flaw in claiming the Mac market was not 'small' by including tablets and smartphones.

They're apples and other apples, so to speak. The Mac OS and iOS are based on a similar Objective-C foundation, and vulnerable to some of the same exploits. Apple even includes an iPad/iPhone emulator as part of Xcode, so it's not unlike lumping together Windows 8 and Windows XP. Note that the malware disparity is mirrored within the mobile market itself with 97% of exploits targeting the Android platform despite Apple's larger enterprise market share (so much for the smaller target myth).

Message edited by author 2014-02-21 08:45:07.

Olympus 17mm f/1.8 M.Zuiko

02/21/2014 08:18:51 AM · #33

Originally posted by Mike:

An instance of malware a few years ago is confirmation that Mac exploits are rare, not evidence of a myth, and Apple does acknowledge them. Usually such malware targets a flaw in 3rd party cross-platform software like Flash, Acrobat or Java rather than the OS itself. To date, there have been roughly 3 dozen known Mac OS X exploits, half of which are harmless, while Windows sees about 5,000 new exploits per year.

Message edited by author 2014-02-21 08:43:47.

PennyStreet

Olympus OM-D E-M1

02/21/2014 08:53:19 AM · #34

Can somebody here please explain time machine? Do you use it? Do you use it to back up the whole computer? How often do you set it to backup and do you use other backup drives for file storage as well?

I bought my MAC two years ago (first time user), never setup time machine initially, have completely run out of space, and now it all is so big it won't fit. I need to make decisions soon and could use some input.

Olympus 17mm f/1.8 M.Zuiko

02/21/2014 09:22:09 AM · #35

Originally posted by PennyStreet:

Can somebody here please explain time machine?

Plug in a big external hard drive and use Disk Utility (in your utilities folder) to format it. A dialog box will pop up asking if you want to use that drive for Time Machine. Click yes. Your Mac will be automatically backed up to that drive in the background and any future changes will be recorded at intervals set in Preferences. Time Machine will record hourly backups for a day, daily backups for a month and weekly backups for older versions. As the drive gets full, it will prune some of the incremental backups to maintain a full but less frequent history. You can then "go back in time" to browse or search any recorded date and restore individual files or your entire computer. It's a simple and very handy hedge against disaster.

PennyStreet

Olympus OM-D E-M1

02/21/2014 09:29:18 AM · #36

Originally posted by scalvert:

Originally posted by PennyStreet:
Can somebody here please explain time machine?

Plug in a big external hard drive and use Disk Utility (in your utilities folder) to format it. A dialog box will pop up asking if you want to use that drive for Time Machine. Click yes. Your Mac will be automatically backed up to that drive in the background and any future changes will be recorded at intervals set in Preferences. Time Machine will record hourly backups for a day, daily backups for a month and weekly backups for older versions. As the drive gets full, it will prune some of the incremental backups to maintain a full but less frequent history. You can then "go back in time" to browse or search any recorded date and restore individual files or your entire computer. It's a simple and very handy hedge against disaster.

I did that and initially it worked... but when it tried to backup the next day it said it couldn't because there's not enough space. I hadn't changed much. Do you think it could be trying to backup the whole thing again on top of what I already had or does it automatically just record what's changed? If it worked for me like you explain, I think this is the way to go. My time machine space is definitely larger than the aggregate space on my solid state and my 2 other drives.

Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 28-70mm f/2.8D IF-ED

02/21/2014 09:44:39 AM · #37

Originally posted by PennyStreet:

Do you think it could be trying to backup the whole thing again on top of what I already had or does it automatically just record what's changed?

Time Machine only records changes, but it's not foolproof. Try this.

hihosilver

Nikon D200

02/21/2014 12:15:51 PM · #38

Lynn, I use time machine in conjunction with this product...Super Duper!. Also, I had to turn off the local snapshots in Time Machine. Even though my regular backups were going to the external drive, the local snaps were hogging space on my internal hdd which I like to keep nice and tidy...;-) Periodically, I clean out the time machine backups as well. You may also use "tmutil" from the terminal command line to have a look at and then delete your old backups. Alternatively, put this task on Tom's "honey-do" list so you have more time for photography...::beams::

Message edited by author 2014-02-21 12:18:20.

PennyStreet

Olympus OM-D E-M1

Olympus 17mm f/1.8 M.Zuiko

02/21/2014 12:32:04 PM · #39

Thanks for the links and the feedback. I'll do some tweaking this weekend and see if I can resolve.

02/21/2014 12:32:55 PM · #40

Originally posted by hihosilver:

I use time machine in conjunction with this product...Super Duper!.

I was actually going to purchase SuperDuper last week for manual backups, but it hasn't been updated in two years and apparently has some issues with the Mavericks OS. I'm using CarbonCopyCloner until there's an update.

Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 28-70mm f/2.8D IF-ED

02/21/2014 01:08:35 PM · #41

Originally posted by scalvert:

Does that mean you're not entirely happy with CarbonCopyCloner? I'm in the market, but will wait if consensus is that Super Duper is better. Disturbing that they haven't updated it in two years though...

hihosilver

Nikon D200

02/21/2014 01:32:00 PM · #42

OIC...yes, seems they are waiting to fix those errors in version Super Duper 2.7.2, but I didn't see a release date for that yet. Oh...I haven't explored Carbon Copy. Thanks for that recommendation!

Message edited by author 2014-02-21 15:11:21.

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

02/21/2014 05:00:59 PM · #43

Originally posted by TrollMan:

Does that mean you're not entirely happy with CarbonCopyCloner?

They're basically the same thing, and I've used both interchangeably for years to clone hard drives. Now I need an incremental backup for an external RAID. SuperDuper is cheaper, but unless an update is available soon I'll just buy CCC.

Covert_Oddity

Nikon D700

02/21/2014 05:19:51 PM · #44

Haven't read the whole thread so don't know if I have mentioned this, but MS Office on Macs is horrible!!!

I know there are other productivity suites out there, but I use office at work on a PC, and I use Excel extensively (to the point of writing Macros etc.) and none of the others have nearly the functionality.

When I have to use MS Office on the Mac for whatever reason, I feel real anger building up inside of me, the interface is different, they've moved things about, and you just don't get the same functionality.

If you're a regular Office user, think seriously about going from PC to Mac.

Having said all that, I love my Mac and would never switch back for my home computer, it's just lucky that I rarely use Office in the house :)

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

02/21/2014 05:28:05 PM · #45

That's funny, because for years one of the biggest jokes in the desktop publishing world was that the Mac version of Word was always better than the concurrent Windows version ... though as I remember version 6 was an all-around disaster â�� those who purchased it as their first version had to be offered a free "downgrade" to version 5 ...

02/21/2014 05:32:37 PM · #46

I like Office for Mac and use it for work purposes. EXCEPT the calendar in Outlook. Scheduling meetings works, but is like pulling teeth.

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II

02/21/2014 05:36:03 PM · #47

Originally posted by scalvert:

Originally posted by hihosilver:
I use time machine in conjunction with this product...Super Duper!.

I was actually going to purchase SuperDuper last week for manual backups, but it hasn't been updated in two years and apparently has some issues with the Mavericks OS. I'm using CarbonCopyCloner until there's an update.

Thanks. I'll get CCC then. Looks good from what I can see and should be all I need. It's imperative that they update their software when Apple comes out with new versions of the OS.

MattO

Nikon D4

02/22/2014 01:31:22 AM · #48

It's always nice to see Shannon helping his Apple Stock fund with his defense of the Apple products. I knew when I saw the thread that Shannon would have several responses.

For the price of a single low end Mac. I can build one hell of a super PC, and easily upgrade it in the future if needed. My PC's typically cost me less than $500 in components and usually last 5 years or more. Only upgrading a few things along the way. The PC I am on now is currently 3 years old, runs 12-15 hours a day and is heavily used for editing. My laptop used in a harsh work environment is an off the shelf Dell that is 6 years old, running XP pro and cost less than $500 when bought on sale then.

Macs are used at the newspaper office I work at, they are costly, and seem to have to be replaced every few years. I know people love their Macs, I love my iPhone and iPad. But I'll stick with my PC. and knock on wood, I have NEVER had a virus or malware. Of course I tend to stay off "those sites"