A little bit of buzz has arisen after Apple has quietly suggested and recommended to Mac users that they should consider installing anti-virus software on their Macs. This has created somewhat of a stir since Apple has said several times that Macs are far less susceptible to viruses if they even get them at all. Personally I know that viruses can be written for any platform, Windows, Mac, and Linux alike. Windows just is the primary target since Windows holds the greatest market share...by a lot. Now imagine if the tables were turned and OS X held 90+% of the OS market, I'd bet that instead of Windows getting the majority of the threats, OS X would likely take the brunt of the attacks. Simply put, the evil-doers will go after whatever they can get the most out of.

I'm one of the people who has a Mac but doesn't have anti-virus software for it, which is probably not exactly the smartest move, but for the moment, I haven't needed it (or I've just gotten lucky). OS X doesn't have a lot of viruses in the wild that can affect the OS, but this however may very well come to an end soon enough with how popular the Mac line has gotten, and how OS X is rising which might make it a much more appealing target for virus writers. It might also be worth noting that Apple's switch to Intel CPUs a little while back probably makes it a little bit easier for the writers as well since they're so used to that for Windows machines.

In the end, I do understand where Apple is coming from, despite what they want to say, they have to acknowledge that OS X is not immune to viruses, no OS is (not even Linux). So putting anti-virus software on a Mac is by no means a bad idea, we'll just have to see how Mac users react. Will they snub their noses to the thought or will they think about it and agree that its probably a better idea to be safe, rather than sorry later should their Mac get infected.

One last thing for everyone to consider: Apple has been consistently growing, sales are up and more and more people are bringing Macs into their homes. With this growing popularity, comes a greater target. The number of threats are only going to go up, stay vigilant and be careful what you download, what you install, and what sites you visit. OS X may be a "small" target today, but given the growth, I don't know how long it will stay out of the virus spotlight.

Tags: apple, mac, antivirus, operatingsystem, os

Microsoft has been having antitrust issues with the European Union for a while now and has paid some pretty hefty fines. Now they may have more issues coming. Opera, makers of the Opera Web Browser have filed an antitrust compaint with the EU against Microsoft complaining about Internet Explorer. As many know, every Windows installation comes with Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE6 with XP and IE7 with Vista). Opera is complaining that by bundling IE with Windows, Microsoft is hindering the ability for consumers to choose what browser to use. At the very least, Opera wants Microsoft to include other browsers into Windows. Opera also complains about Internet Explorer's lack of following standards causes undue hardship for web development.

Asking the EU to pressure Microsoft to unbundle IE from Windows does not come without precedent. The EU has already forced Microsoft to provide a version of Windows that does not include Windows Media Player. The version was called Windows XP Edition N. Despite the antitrust ruling and the release of Edition N, it didn't really sell well as the version of XP with WMP was the same price. Technically, taking Windows Media Player out of Windows is seemingly simpler than taking IE off. IE is tied in closely with XP as many applications within Windows seem to use it as well. Windows, Microsoft, and Office Update all require Internet Explorer to function, so unbundling IE from Windows seems to be trickier than simply removing it from the install. So that would pretty much leave installing alternative browsers with XP. For those tech-savvy enough, that might work, but I'm sure if Microsoft does that, then they will probably make IE the default browser which would probably mean the non-tech people probably won't realize the difference and only use the default browser, which in this case would be IE.

Opera's second complaint though is definitely a valid one. If anyone has done any real web development, they probably know how difficult making a website look the same across the browsers can be. While Safari, Firefox, and Opera tend to be pretty easy, Internet Explorer really becomes hardball. I can say from personal experience that making my website show up properly across the browsers tended to be a headache.  I remember the first version of my site, it looked fine in all but IE. Forcing Microsoft to follow the web standards would be a good idea, but sadly, I don't see it happening anytime soon which sucks.

In the end, I don't know how much Opera and the EU are going to be able to accomplish.  I want to see them succeed, but the reality of the situation is much more complicated than it should have to be.

Opera files antitrust complaint with the EU [opera.com]

Tags: opera, eu, microsoft, links, antitrust, news