Are Mac computers as susceptible to viruses as a PC?

Well a PC that is not Mac and running OS X Leopard.



Macs (especially those running 10.4 and 10.5) are definitely more secure and immune to viruses than Windows.





I don%26#039;t know the current numbers, but the most recent figure I have seen is that Windows has almost 200,000 viruses plaguing it and less than 5 take over your Mac.





Also, Mac%26#039;s don%26#039;t get spyware... :D





So... Mac%26#039;s get 0.000025 times the amount of viruses that Windows gets and on a Mac you don%26#039;t have to worry about spyware.




At the lowest common denominator, it%26#039;s all one%26#039;s and zeros...no such thing as an un-hackable system, unless you consider a machine that is and will never be touched by a sentient life form.





That said....





Yes and no. First out, Macs do have a few intrinsic security features that Windows does not. Windows systems operate on a %26quot;beehive%26quot; security philosophy...once you%26#039;re in, you%26#039;re a member...





Macs are based in Unix, which does more to continuously check membership for functions that need administrative access. Because of this, it%26#039;s a little harder to get a virus running wild on a mac than it is a PC...but it is not by any means impossible.





The real reason that PC%26#039;s seem more susceptible is simply because they are more popular. If Apple still had the market share, you%26#039;d hear all about how MS makes more secure systems, regardless of how they are actually designed.





Virus makers today shoot for one thing: money. They want your cash and they get more and more creative about how to get it. They will always, however, go for the low-hanging fruit. By that, I mean, the typical mac user is also someone who has thought a bit about their computer purchase. They didn%26#039;t just run into Best Buy and get the cheapest thing that%26#039;ll run, and leave all the junkware running on it.





So another reason...you%26#039;re more likely to find the less tech-savvy on a PC than on a Mac (which is a shame..macs are much easier for the techno-phobes, I%26#039;ve found).




Most professionals use Linux. Macs aren%26#039;t more professional than PC, I don%26#039;t know why the guy said that, it%26#039;s 100% not true. Mac%26#039;s aren%26#039;t susceptible now, but they probably will be in a short amount of time. Hackers and virus writers aren%26#039;t idiots, and they can see that more and more people are using Macs. I use a PC and as long as you%26#039;re not an idiot, you shouldn%26#039;t get a virus.





-Billy




well PCs have operating system too,like windows xp or vista,


as you might know vista is really secure,xp isnt as secure as vista.i think mac is a really secure OS plus it is really proffesional




No computer software is perfect. OS X is not an exception. It is most definitely susceptible to viruses.




yes. The thing is since the PC is more widely used, hackers, etc, make viruses for the PC more than the Mac.


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