Reply #15: there's still a big difference

[briang5000]

On a windows system the spyware can be installed without the user knowing.
This installation is often invisible and when you finally discover you have the spyware it is often very difficult to find where it's been hidden within the windows registry.

With OS X it could be possible for somebody to install a keylogger or other malware on a computer, but they would need the admin password. Don't give that out and you're pretty safe. Software cannot be installed into a Mac running OS X unless you provide the password. And then it can only be installed within the user folder, shared folder, or on the root level of the hard drive. You can't bury the program inside the system. It wouldn't be able to hide. Once you found the offending program dragging it to the trash removes it completely.

Yes, it would be possible that malware was installed on a public computer. However this risk is far greater on a windows computer than a mac. Simply because there are probably tens of thousands of spyware and malware programs for windows and very few (if any) on the Mac.

All that being said; I still have never read of a true spyware program on a Mac running OS X. There was a recent report of a trojan email attachment that tried to hide itself as an applescript but that problem has been corrected many months ago via a software update.

No system is perfect, Mac included, but the current setup of OS X is far more secure than the current setup of Win XP. This is one of the reasons MicroSoft is keen to get there Longhorn OS ready and shipping. They hope to close the many security holes found in the current XP. The trouble is that Longhorn isn't expected until late 2005 or sometime in 2006.