Want a new laptop but do I want Windows 8?

[pacerron]

Westcliffe

pacerron--is this from the Dell catalog?.

The catalog I mentioned came in the mail. Once you are a Dell customer you go into a category that can save you a lot of money on future purchases. Sometimes, however, you can do just as well at a brick and mortar store like BB, Staples, etc.
You can go to Dell.com and see everything. If you are specifically interested in a laptop go to:
Laptops, Ultrabooks & Notebooks - Dell Laptop Computers for Sale | Dell

and you can build what you want including different operating systems.
Call them on the phone if you have questions about what might be best for your use.
I do not work for Dell or get any compensation from them. Just good experiences since way back in the W-98 days.

The Windows Defender and firewall system in the new W 8.1 is supposed to be very good and the security updates are run daily, if you don't have a 3rd party AV software installed. I have 327 days remaining on my Norton 360 for 3 pc's and the Dell came with 30 days
of MacAfee plus 6 months of Trend Micro as a giveaway from BB which I didn't install, so it makes sense to me to use the remaining 327 days on the new W8.1 box. The Norton 360 has many other features besides virus protection that I use for tune up, cleaning registry, etc. It is usually on sale somewhere for 30-40 bucks off so I buy one for next year and when the time comes just put in the new activation code. Nothing to install, since the updates on the active pc's are already more current than the disk.
I made the Norton 360 transfer this morning and it installed in the W 8.1 without any problems.

 

[aczlan]

as a director of Information Systems for a large school that runs several MAC computers, I'd suggest you get Norton AV for your Mac. There are plenty of nasty maleware programs that will attack Safari and your mac or iOS device.

I agree. Security through obscurity will only get you so far... In the last 7+ years, I have had 0 cases where my the AV Windows machine has caught anything (other than false positives). I still run AV (Microsoft Security Essentials in my case) just in case one of the files I download from a trusted source are bad, but it is a backup for the mark 1 human antivirus (aka my brain).

Aaron Z

 

[dmccarty]

I had PC's and Windows OS for years and all the required "anti-whatever" software programs that were required to keep it operating. I now have a MAC - ABSOLUTELY NO ANTI-WHATEVER SOFTWARE - have had this Mac system for six year - never had any virus's, or any other type of malware. If you want a computer that operates without all the added "anti-whatever" baggage get a Mac.

as a director of Information Systems for a large school that runs several MAC computers, I'd suggest you get Norton AV for your Mac. There are plenty of nasty maleware programs that will attack Safari and your mac or iOS device.

I get security vulnerability reports almost every day at work. These reports are broken down by OS and Macs have vulnerabilities like every other OS. They are not immune. I don't see a yearly report, which would be really interesting but there is a report I see every few weeks or maybe once a month that shows a summary by OS. Some version of Linux usually tops the list with a Linux/Unix being at the bottom the list. Mac's are usually on the low number of vulnerabilities but not the lowest. I have not been getting reports on Windows but I would think it is safe to assume they always are at the top of the list.

Every system has security vulnerabilities, and if antivirus software is available, it should be used if the system is connected to the Internet.

Later,
Dan

 

[mikehaugen]

My understanding is that macs are less vulnerable because they are not "mainstream" or not as popular so hackers and virus writers don't bother with them. This is probably changing with the increased popularity of macs.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think macs are inherently less susceptible to viruses.

 

[aczlan]

My understanding is that macs are less vulnerable because they are not "mainstream" or not as popular so hackers and virus writers don't bother with them. This is probably changing with the increased popularity of macs.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think macs are inherently less susceptible to viruses.

They may be slightly less susceptible, but the main reason is (as you say) the lower number of them making them a less likely target for malware writers.

Aaron Z

 

[pacerron]

I agree. Security through obscurity will only get you so far... In the last 7+ years, I have had 0 cases where my the AV Windows machine has caught anything (other than false positives). I still run AV (Microsoft Security Essentials in my case) just in case one of the files I download from a trusted source are bad, but it is a backup for the mark 1 human antivirus (aka my brain).

Aaron Z

Plus, this change of not supporting MAC older systems could really be a problem for small business owners that use them.
Mavericks: The end of Macs in the enterprise? | ZDNet

 

[Fordman1981]

Plus, this change of not supporting MAC older systems could really be a problem for small business owners that use them. Mavericks: The end of Macs in the enterprise? | ZDNet

I noticed a few faults in that article. If I'm not mistaken windows has dropped support for XP. He is wrong on that count. And mavericks supports macs all the way back to 2006 or 2007. I am running mavericks on my 2008 MacBook Pro. It is faster and runs longer on battery than the previous OS. I'm sure there will be some bugs to iron out. There always is on any new software

 

[JasG]

Just curious -- what are the problems with Windows 8?

Steve

I have always set up myself as the admin and wife and kids as users. Widows 8 keeps deleting the non-admin profiles and/or dropping parts of their profile. It's so bad that when I called tech support for my HP computer they said we know how to fix. Take the computer back and see if any windows 7 machines are still in stock.

It was one issue after another for the 1st few months. I only bought it because my other computer died and I couldn't find a windows 7 machine and didn't want to wait to order one.

 

[Pete6114]

I hate having microsoft shoving new operating systems down my throat!!!
I use XP on my desktop and am very happy with it. No intentions on buying a new OS for it at all. Also have a new laptop, i use when traveling, which has Win.8 on it. Just updated to 8.1 and still don't like it. If microsoft keep doing this crap to me, I'll just start buying Apple products.

 

[pacerron]

I have always set up myself as the admin and wife and kids as users. Widows 8 keeps deleting the non-admin profiles and/or dropping parts of their profile. It's so bad that when I called tech support for my HP computer they said we know how to fix. Take the computer back and see if any windows 7 machines are still in stock.

It was one issue after another for the 1st few months. I only bought it because my other computer died and I couldn't find a windows 7 machine and didn't want to wait to order one.

Were your wife and kids accounts set up with passwords for each of them or just names?

I haven't messed with multiple accounts on W 8.1 yet, but it is my understanding that the first profile used to set up a new machine becomes the administrator automatically. Others can be added with real MS hotmail/outlook accounts
and have remote access from anywhere from other devices if desired or dummy users can be set up with no real account that can be used like the "Public" account in W-7.
In 7 I set up an admin account requiring a password to make changes that require Admin authority but run the pc in general on individual accounts to protect it from outside access by bad guys. That means if I try to change something while in a normal user account I have to enter the Admin password to do it, but I think that is a small inconvenience for the extra protection added.