E arlier today, we pointed you to positive coverage of Appleis new version of Mac OS X, Panther, in the New York Times. The other big gun in mainstream computer coverage, Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal, also chimed in with some glowing Apple coverage. Mr. Mossbergis angle centers around the lack of security on the Windows platform, with the title giving Mr. Mossbergis solution to that problem: "If Youire Getting Tired Of Fighting Viruses, Consider a New Mac." It doesnit get much clearer than that. From the piece:
For consumers and small businesses, the burden of using Microsoft Windows just keeps getting heavier. After growing easier to use for several years, Windows PCs have taken a giant step backward because they are so insecure.
Windows is riddled with security flaws, and new ones turn up regularly. It is increasingly susceptible to all kinds of viruses, malicious Trojan horse programs and spyware. As a result, Windows users have been forced to spend more of their time and money supporting their computers.
Almost every week, they are supposed to install patches to the already patchy operating system to plug these security holes. And every few months, it seems, Windows users must quake in fear as some horrible new virus is created by the international criminal class that constantly targets Windows.
But for consumers and small businesses, thereis a simple way out of this endless morass: Buy an Apple Macintosh computer. There are no viruses on the Macintoshis excellent two-year-old operating system, called OS X. And the Mac is a terrific computer -- as good as, or better than, Windows for the typical computing tasks important to mainstream users.
The full article then goes on with a very frank and accurate look at how and why Mac OS X is (so far) virus-free. We recommend it as a very good read.