Are Macs Susceptible to Malware and Viruses?

Presently there is a good deal of disagreement amongst many Mac and PC owners concerning whether or not Macs can end up with viruses. There are good points on both sides, along with lots of bogus, but we are here to find out the real truth for you! Here are the facts:

Mac users argue that the Mac OS is without a doubt superior to Windows and because of this it can’t get viruses. When I anonymously began a live shopping cart support chat at www.Apple.com with an “Apple Expert” this is precisely what he commented when asked if Macs can get viruses:

“The Unix core that the Mac OS is built on prevents Mac computers from being susceptible to computer viruses.”

I responded, “So there is no way I would need to worry about getting a virus?”

“Not at all!” he wrote. Needless to say, they are employees of Apple and as a result have scripts to answer essentially every question that they are expected to use. Nevertheless, this conversation does in fact tell us what Apple likes you to believe…there is no possible way a Mac could get viruses.

A PC owner’s main point is that any type of operating system can and will get viruses. If some programmers devote many hours figuring out how to make viruses for Windows, why can’t they do the same thing for Macs?

As I mentioned above, both of these views are valid, though there’s only one answer. The real answer isMacs are able to get viruses!* However that’s not the end of the story. If you look carefully, you will probably notice that I wrote an asterisk after that last statement. The basis for that is due to the fact that although Macs are able to get viruses, they usually don’t. The reason for this is simple really. Because Macs only make up 5% of the market share, a programmer would be moronic to commit several months learning how to develop viruses for Macs and then dedicate months developing the virus all simply to target merely 5% of the market! It would be a complete waste of time! Furthermore, an additional advantage for Macs is that the Mac OS X is actually more difficult for coders to learn about than Windows operating systems. It is possible, and has been executed, but it’s more difficult.

Since we’ve got that resolved, do I believe Mac users ought to run out and get anti-virus software? No. Do I think Macs are going to be protected forever? No. Eventually I think Macs will obtain a significant share more of the market share making them a legitimate target for viruses. The fact is that there is more than one thing to think about when purchasing computers and many people prefer PCs over Macs and therefore these people will need to protect their computer.

Whether you are interested in finding out more about how to get rid of viruses to remove them from your computer or help your friends learn how to get rid of viruses, you should really check out www.HowToGetRidOfViruses.com!