"Ever since I got a Mac, I don't have viruses anymore..."

[SpellAndShield]

And it seems to be true, though from what I have heard, it simply has to do with the fact that most viruses are designed for PCs and not Macs and Macs too will one day get their comeuppance. Still, the reason I don't consider macs is because you can't game with them. What is the solution here? Virus free but no gaming or constantly having headaches with Malware/Virus crap so I can game. Advice appreciated!

[LadyMilla]

A basic grasp on what is dangerous and what is not is all you need to avoid infections, plus an anti-virus program, a firewall, a good browser (IE excluded) with ad-blocking and script-blocking plugins (or Sandboxie if you are running 32-bit op systems). Due to my line of work, I often need to visit less than secure web-pages, and the last infection I got was about two years ago, and it was through Windows Live in the form of a fake video link.

[Luminiari]

Following on LadyMilla's comment, common sense is a wonderful thing. My boyfriend installed a range of different virus/malware protection programs on his computer a little while ago and did a full scan which yielded no threats. He's used this computer for almost four years without any protection. It's because he's learned what not to click.

 

I hate to say this (I very much dislike all Apple products), but you CAN run games on a Mac... if you're running Bootcamp.

[SpellAndShield]

Following on LadyMilla's comment, common sense is a wonderful thing. My boyfriend installed a range of different virus/malware protection programs on his computer a little while ago and did a full scan which yielded no threats. He's used this computer for almost four years without any protection. It's because he's learned what not to click.

 

I hate to say this (I very much dislike all Apple products), but you CAN run games on a Mac... if you're running Bootcamp.

 

Sometimes just navigating somewhere can give you problems in my experience.

[Jagermh]

I hate to say this (I very much dislike all Apple products), but you CAN run games on a Mac... if you're running Bootcamp.

 

You can still install XP on the mac and then play games too and then you get to have the most indestructible laptop ever

[Vagrant0]

Viruses do exist for Mac, they are just far less common. The downside however is that if you ever do encounter one some of the time your Mac will instantly shut down and refuse to restart, requiring you to ship it away for a week while someone fixes it for you. Other times your Mac will still instantly shut down, but revert to an earlier state, meaning that you still lose whatever you were working on.

 

If you're wanting to get a mac because of virus scares, instead get one because you know nothing about computers, don't care to ever learn anything about computers, can't be bothered to install and configure security software, and can't be bothered to use common sense before clicking random links.

 

The main difference between a PC and a Mac is not functionality, security, or anything like that, but instead is about maintenance and understanding what the hell you are doing. Mac is popular because more and more people want to be able to use the technology without understanding how it works or doing anything to maintain it. As a PC user you accept the fact that things will likely go wrong somewhere down the road and that you will either you will have to fix it, or pay a lot of money to someone who supposedly can. As a Mac user, there is no acceptance of this, if something goes wrong anywhere, the computer stops working and you have to send it away for a week or two until things are fixed, or you just have to buy a new one. The downside however is that even if the problem is minor, like a corrupted file that could be fixed in a few minutes, the Mac user would still need to ship their computer away to have someone fix it.

 

The rest of it is really just geek mentality. A PC requires time and effort learning the software and presents constant challenge keeping geeks interested and having high rewards when everything is figured out. A Mac however has intuitive menus and requires little to no effort to use it, so provides next to no challenge, and few extra rewards, but lets you get to checking your facebook account as soon as the thing is turned on.

[Achiro]

I don't know why everyone puts down EI, it's not a horrible browser if it's updated in fact it runs up to par with Firefox for me.

Anyway the reason a lot of viruses aren't made for macs is because only about 20% of the world population uses them.

 

You would be far better off just to buy Windows 7, a good PC build, and some nifty accessories with all the money you could save buying stuff that comes free with windows but apple sees fit to charge 60$.

Really the only way you're getting viruses is if you visit obvious attack sites, download torrents with no comments and barely any seeders, and click advertisements like they're TVTropes tabs. If you do that you can't of having coming.

Macs weren't really designed to be great computers, just money hogs, and really buying a pre-made company computer is just a bad idea. A custom build can turn out to be cheaper, better working, and lasts longer if you know what to buy. Like vagrant said, a lot of it comes down to mentality, however it is pretty much widely accepted a custom build is your best bet instead of going with a storebought.

[SpellAndShield]

I don't know why everyone puts down EI, it's not a horrible browser if it's updated in fact it runs up to par with Firefox for me.

Anyway the reason a lot of viruses aren't made for macs is because only about 20% of the world population uses them.

 

You would be far better off just to buy Windows 7, a good PC build, and some nifty accessories with all the money you could save buying stuff that comes free with windows but apple sees fit to charge 60$.

Really the only way you're getting viruses is if you visit obvious attack sites, download torrents with no comments and barely any seeders, and click advertisements like they're TVTropes tabs. If you do that you can't of having coming.

Macs weren't really designed to be great computers, just money hogs, and really buying a pre-made company computer is just a bad idea. A custom build can turn out to be cheaper, better working, and lasts longer if you know what to buy. Like vagrant said, a lot of it comes down to mentality, however it is pretty much widely accepted a custom build is your best bet instead of going with a storebought.

 

I think a lot of it comes from so called reputable porn sites. Let's face it, every guy watches porn so....what's the solution there? That is the only risk I ever take, with those sites.

[Vagrant0]

IE is bad because it rarely gets good updates to fix all the exploits that Windows leaves in in order to secretly obtain information about your computer or send you updates. Many malicious scripts are written specifically for these exploits with no native way of blocking them before they've already done their damage. Firefox, Chrome and other 3rd party browsers do not maintain these secret hooks into system files so are less prone to exploits. These browsers often have additional plugins which are open source and are updated frequently to react to any new exploits which are found as well as maintain an ability to block all scripting with a blanket clause. The fact that many of the same people who use IE also use laughably poor antivirus software, combined with the sheer ignorance which goes along with maintaining this sort of situation, just makes for a perfect storm and promptly hangs a "Please infect me, I'm an idiot!" sign above such users.

 

As for the source of viruses, one need not deal with illegal sites to get viruses... if such were the case criminals would be the most prone to infections. Rather most viruses either come from e-mail, or as code injections to normal sites. In truth the most dangerous place for viruses and other malware is probably that social network you visit. Profile pages can contain hidden scripted elements, viruses can be hidden as images or sound files, and once one account gets hacked and infected it becomes rather easy to start infecting everyone related to that account... and on down the line.

 

Although common sense still plays a primary role a user who is prone to high risk environments should not rely solely on their ability to sniff out a dangerous file or script. It's through using both a good common sense and in having capable and properly configured security that most threats can be dealt with long before they become a problem.

[AWarGuy]

A person that says Mac's dont get viruses are fools, there are viruses but only macs make up about 4% of the Personal Computer market so that means they are a less targeted audience but there are viruses for Macs floating around.