Intel, the end of Mac security?
Hi all,
AFAIK there are very few, if any, virus/trojans/spyware for Mac. Do you think Apple switching to Intel platform will make Macs more vulnerable to virus/trojans/spyware? Or all of these dangers only take advantage at OS level, therefore Macs will still remain secure?
Comments.
Cheers,
J
Re: Intel, the end of Mac security?
Quote:
Originally posted here by johnnymier
Do you think Apple switching to Intel platform will make Macs more vulnerable to virus/trojans/spyware? Or all of these dangers only take advantage at OS level, therefore Macs will still remain secure?
Umm, well, for one thing, I've seen absolutely nothing to indicate that Apple will be switching architectures, merely suppliers. This may surprise you, but Intel makes much more than just Pentium and Itanium processors. They have the production capacity to easily add Apple's loads to their facilities, even if it involved developing a new Apple-specific architecture, or producing G5s. There are a lot of things Apple isn't just going to abandon (like Altivec, etc), not to mention the expense of converting applications to a new architecture if these misunderstandings were indeed the case.
Even apart from all of that, assuming they WERE switching to x86, it would not matter, as Spyware, Trojans, etc., are all written for the OS.
Edit: To clarify, everything I've seen mentioned has been vague, indicating "Intel's chips", but I can find nothing on Apple's site to indicate a specific line. For all we know it could mean Itanium (it's certainly within Apple's normal price range :P).