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Apple Quietly Pulls Claims of Virus Immunity

pcworld.com

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Re: Apple Quietly Pulls Claims of Virus Immunity

#81

Post by Zr40 »

s_henry_paulson wrote: post #4
ghurlman wrote: post #2

I don't think it's a sign of Apple taking security seriously as much as it is a lawyer avoiding liability suits.

I think any competent PR representative would have inevitably pulled those statements, as they were never true even when they were written.

Untrue. This[0] is what was written in 2010:

> The Mac is designed with built-in technologies that provide > protection against malicious software and security threats > right out of the box. However, since no system can be 100 > percent immune from every threat, antivirus software may > offer additional protection.

Something similar is still present in today's security page: http://www.apple.com/osx/what-is/security.html (near the bottom)

[0]: http://web.archive.org/web/20100123154433/http://www.apple.c...

Re: Apple Quietly Pulls Claims of Virus Immunity

#82

Post by TazeTSchnitzel »

mrich wrote: post #74
technel wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's pretty clear that the next Microsoft v. Apple war is being waged in the tablet market (the show is over for cellphones -- Apple won). Traditionally Microsoft hasn't done well at competing with Apple on their own turf (mobile, mp3 players, etc), but it'll be interesting to see what the Microsoft Surface means for all of this.

Apple won big in smartphones, but Android has a bigger marketshare. Competition between all smartphone vendors have made the customer the biggest winner in any case.

If Microsoft's Surface and/or Windows 8 RT take off, then we may see an increase in Windows Phone 8 marketshare. Why? Because of syncing, similar interface, possible app sharing, etc.

Re: Apple Quietly Pulls Claims of Virus Immunity

#83

Post by oacgnol »

dubya wrote: post #51
X-Istence wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And then Apple disabled Java, and Apple no longer ships Java. Java has been a huge security vulnerability for a while now...

It's still useful to have though, and Apple makes it really easy to install. GlimmerBlocker, Maple, Processing and a few game clients I use need it. It does seem that the default is that "Enable applet plug-in and Web Start applications" is off by default (in the Java Preferences app; there's no mention in System Preferences).

In general, however, if you know you need Java and how to install Java as a dependency then in all likelihood you're savvy enough to avoid being infected.

Re: Apple Quietly Pulls Claims of Virus Immunity

#84

Post by Someone »

This is somewhat of link bait. Yes, they changed the wording on their site, but what do you expect them to do in addition? Plan a press conference about the change? Have a press release? Of course it is "quietly"; Apple has product upgrades that they do not feel worthy of a press release.

Back to the subject: this possibly/partly is a response to the outcome of a complaint at an advertising complaints commission in the Netherlands (correlation is present, but the Dutch Apple site still had the original text while the US site had the updated text). They got the short end of the stick there, but the commission cannot do more than naming and shaming (https://www.reclamecode.nl/webuitspraak.asp?ID=76881&acC...)

Re: Apple Quietly Pulls Claims of Virus Immunity

#85

Post by molmalo »

idspispopd wrote: post #57
paulmcpazzi wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> "It doesn't get PC viruses" will, by definition, always be true. Macs are PCs.

"PC" has been appropriated numerous times by vendors to mean a specific platform. In the times were personal computers were less-standardised "IBM PC" and later "PC Clones" referred to the platform and not "personal computer" specifically. This naturally led to Macintosh computer being referred to as Macs, even though they too are "personal computers". The problem is that many people today don't understand the histor…

just asking seriously.. aren't Macs x86 now? Doesn't that distinction comes from the time when Macs used a totally different architecture (risc) based on something called Ironically "PowerPC"? I still can't see the difference now. Why then don't call Linux-PC or BSD-PC to others if based on the platform? I may be wrong, but the way I see it its just something anachronistic with an historical basis, but now just used for marketing purposes.

Re: Apple Quietly Pulls Claims of Virus Immunity

#86

Post by yuhong »

rmc wrote: post #11
recursive wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are macs not PCs? Perhaps I'm an average user, but I thought PC stood for "personal computer".

That depends. To lots of people (myself included), "PC" means "personal computer" and include desktop and laptops from Apple. However in the 1980s/1990s, there were "PCs" and "Macs". PC was anything running Windows (etc.) and a "Mac" was from Apple (i.e. a Macintosh). Apple (and many Apple fans) continue to use "Mac" instead of "PC". I've had Apple fans ask me if I use "a Mac or a PC?" (Since I use Linux, I don't kno…

The difference being that back in the olden days Macs used completely different processors etc while now Macs uses the same IBM PC compatible hardware.

Re: Apple Quietly Pulls Claims of Virus Immunity

#87

Post by marze »

brudgers wrote: post #13

According to Sophos U.S. senior technology consultant Graham Cluley, this is a sign that Apple is starting to take security seriously. "I view the changes in the messages pushed out by their marketing department as some important baby-steps," he wrote in a blog entry. The idea that the removal of technical falsehoods from Apple marketing copy represents a watershed moment in their attitude toward the security of thei…

Hard to argue with Apple's success, essentially no malware vs the cesspool of Windows malware everyone deals with.

Re: Apple Quietly Pulls Claims of Virus Immunity

#88

Post by yuhong »

molmalo wrote: post #85
idspispopd wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"PC" has been appropriated numerous times by vendors to mean a specific platform. In the times were personal computers were less-standardised "IBM PC" and later "PC Clones" referred to the platform and not "personal computer" specifically. This naturally led to Macintosh computer being referred to as Macs, even though they too are "personal computers". The problem is that many people today don't understand the histor…

just asking seriously.. aren't Macs x86 now? Doesn't that distinction comes from the time when Macs used a totally different architecture (risc) based on something called Ironically "PowerPC"? I still can't see the difference now. Why then don't call Linux-PC or BSD-PC to others if based on the platform? I may be wrong, but the way I see it its just something anachronistic with an historical basis, but now just used…

And licensing purposes too. Back in the old days Apple used the Mac ROMs to prevent cloning.

Re: Apple Quietly Pulls Claims of Virus Immunity

#89

Post by CountSessine »

TazeTSchnitzel wrote: post #82
mrich wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple won big in smartphones, but Android has a bigger marketshare. Competition between all smartphone vendors have made the customer the biggest winner in any case.

If Microsoft's Surface and/or Windows 8 RT take off, then we may see an increase in Windows Phone 8 marketshare. Why? Because of syncing, similar interface, possible app sharing, etc.

I doubt it. The phenomenal popularity of Android smartphones hasn't done anything to sell Android tablets.

Re: Apple Quietly Pulls Claims of Virus Immunity

#90

Post by SquareWheel »

marze wrote: post #87
brudgers wrote: post #13

According to Sophos U.S. senior technology consultant Graham Cluley, this is a sign that Apple is starting to take security seriously. "I view the changes in the messages pushed out by their marketing department as some important baby-steps," he wrote in a blog entry. The idea that the removal of technical falsehoods from Apple marketing copy represents a watershed moment in their attitude toward the security of thei…

Hard to argue with Apple's success, essentially no malware vs the cesspool of Windows malware everyone deals with.

I haven't dealt with Windows malware in a decade. Have you?
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