Robert Lerner

A few months ago, I was inside of the local Apple store. My reason was clear: They allow you to open webpages, and it is an easy way to advertise my websites. Pull them up on a few computers, and so on.

During my visit, I witnessed an employee telling a customer that “Macs don’t get viruses, there are none.” This enraged me. I’m and avid Windows / PC guy, I think Linux is good if you want to remember the old days where there’s no programs, and I think Macs are for the people who really don’t do anything with their computer but draw pictures, browse the internet, and write papers.

Let us gather some facts for this entry:

In December of 2009, Microsoft Windows holds 93.74% of the market share. This means that more than 9 in 10 people use Windows.
According to MacRumors, Macs do have viruses
According to Princeton University, Computer Virus is defined as:
“a software program capable of reproducing itself and usually capable of causing great harm to files or other programs on the same computer”

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Alright, now that we have that out of the way, let’s concentrate on these three facts. As you can see by the definition, viruses like to spread. Infecting a Mac is like infecting a Lochness Monster, whereas infecting a Windows machine is like infecting, say, a human.

If you’re going to design a virus, it only makes sense to exploit the most common medium around. This allows the best possible chance of your virus reaching a broad audience. Why Macs do have viruses, I cannot answer.

What about Linux?

Same answer, the market share is too small for it to be opportunistic.

Both Linux and Mac users — go to the store, and find some software, or better — games for your computer. No software company will bother with these platforms alone, because it’s not profitable. Face it, Windows controls computers right now, and if you want to accomplish anything with your computer you should use it.