Hmm creative hacking method.

That's kinda cute....Macs claim to be sooo sophisticated in comparison to the humble PC....that all that was needed was an equally sophisticated trick...and they are ALL turned to crap.

Bang goes their holier-than-thou claim to being immune to virii, etc.

Sad for Mac users...but about bloody time they were shown just how level the playing field really is....

Someone has a chip on their shoulder? 

Macs are just PC's running another OS.  As they get market share, there will be more targetted hacks against Macs.  Pretty much all hardware / software systems have vulnerabilities -- the Apple marketing guys were just taking advantage of the fact that most hacks were targetted towards Windows.  I always cringed when I saw the ads because there is no better way to get a hacker's attention.

As it stands, I own a Mac Pro in order to use Final Cut, but I find it to be a really well made computer.  I have run XP with Boot Camp when I needed it.  I will take OSX over Vista any day of the week.  I also know several people who were somewhat anti-mac do-it-yourself rebels until they caved and bought one, and then they couldn't stop raving about it.  But yeah, the smug holier than thou attitude some folks put out can get old.  Macs have their problems too.  Quite frankly, I'm a big fan of "humble" self made computers too...but Vista forced me over the fence.  If I come back it will be to run some Linux clone.

The Apple keyboard works great with PCs too, so it doesn't matter if you're using a Mac or not to be affected by this.

I do have to say that this is an epic fail in terms of security.  Why is the firmware even writable?

I fyou jumped ship because of Vista then you were a bit 'previous' cos along came Windows 7 ....

It is ironic how much you dislike the generalizations in the Mac advertising....because your post was full of hyperbole as well...bottom line, you don't like Macs, I get it. But from what I've seen most average users who have switched over enjoy the experience of using Macs MUCH more, which is too bad, because this is a market that was Microsoft's to lose. Hopefully Windows 7 fixes this...I'd certainly welcome it.

Cykur what it really all boils down to is what you feel comfortable using, the old 'user friendly' approach and of course being able to run the software you need is always important. 

What you said is correct, a computer is just a means, a tool, to get you to where you need to be.  It really doesn't matter the name (PC or MAC) or the OS that it's running.  What ever the 'tool' you use it has to job you need done. 

In a perfect world computers would be made with the hardware you want, you load on an OS of your choosing and software to match and away you go.  Life would/could be so much easier and simplier.

Except for the programmers

You could also add by 'user limitations' to that.  Not everyone should be allowed to use a computer, sorry, but it's true.

True, and the strongest point of Windows, "everyone can use it", is ultimately also its weakest point.

Actually you 'missed it' quite eloquently.

I actually have NO feelings towards a 'Mac' at all.  What I despise is the advertising.  If the fuckers would just say 'Macs are good...get one" that'd be fine...but when it is efectively "if you use a PC you're a retard...only intelligent people use Macs" or perhaps "it's not that Macs are so good...it's that PCs are so bad"... both are peurile forms of advertising.

Also...I don't like how Jobs decided on and ended up with the name 'Apple'....it is arrogance in the extreme.

It's the people who think that the sun shines out of Apple's/Job's arse that need to 'get it'.

You just hit the nail on the head.

When I was looking for a computer for my home studio, Macs were on top of my list. OSX is a dream to use and was looking forward to use it at home. I never went down that path for two good reasons. Cost and flexibility. Maybe I could justify to spend on a computer which price to performance was less than a PC (after all it did have OSX), to spend a small fortune on software which already had for my PC (but they run so well on a Mac). Flexibility for me was the problem! You can upgrade the memory and the hard drive if you like but thats it. No thanks! I like to build a system to my needs.

This is why Apple likes to come out and brag how they have the most secure OS around. They have built OSX out of a Unix platform, which is a great place to start from. But they have also restrict on what hardware can be used. When you don't have to cater for every hardware manufacturer and have a better control on how software behaves on your system, you have a huge advantage.

When Apple can create hardware for a 'secure system' which can be hacked, they look like a bit of a goose.

Windows has the disadvantage (advantage?) of trying to be the swiss army knife of the OS world. By being a flexible OS to a large amount of hardware/software creates security problems. For all the problems Microsoft have, they still have the number one OS for a good reason. Usability! Something which I doubt Apple wants to do.

The quote of the month

Got it in one....

Colloquial for premature...

I've been using the RC [7100] of Win 7 as my primary/sole OS for a few weeks now....it's essentially stable - though my AV/Firewall spits a dummy regularly....and on 2 or three occasions I've had to resort to a hard reset when things 'stalled'.

I never used Vista much....it didn't support my modem at the time so it was essentially utterly useless to bother.

Win 7 on the other hand was totally painless driver-wise.... and I'm yet to find a game it won't run...but that's only a good thing...

I don't think I missed it.  It is ironic you display the same hyperbolic qualities you claim to detest in Mac advertising.  I actually don't like the Mac advertising either, and I said as much in my posts.  Re-read the tone and content of your posts and reflect on whether it is the real message you are trying to get across. 

Kind of done here....

No need...I don't suffer short-term memory loss...and am quite conversant with my intended 'tone'.

...and there IS no hyperbole...

The irony is in that both parties think they are right and the other ones are wrong. Although Jafo's point about Apple is valid in my opinion he choses a rather blunt way of saying it.

Apple fanboys [to pc users]: "You suck!"

Jafo [to apple fanboys]: "No, you suck!"

..doesn't quite make a useful discussion.