The only thing proved, was that this hack took 12 hours, and that's about 11 hours and 57 minutes longer than it would take for a user to compromise a windows machine. I'm not saying that Mac's are invulnerable, I'm just saying that people who claim that a Mac is no more secure than Windows don't have too firm a grip on reality.

I can't even begin to comprehend how you seriously wrote that statement. There is a difference between WRITING an exploit and EXECUTING an exploit. It took 12 hours for this guy to write the exploit. It did not take him 12 hours to execute it. The same goes for Windows. I guarantee you that there are people out there with exploits already sitting and waiting (and perhaps being used) that can "hack" a Mac in 3 minutes. But as this article pointed out, an exploit is a valuable commodity in those circles, so they'd prefer you didn't know about it.

Is the OS X more or less secure than Windows? I don't know. Is a Mac more or less secure than a Windows-based PC? Again, I don't know. But I do know, without any hint of doubt, that most Mac users have a less-secure mindset than PC users. Most Mac users (and virtually all Mac fanboys) will argue with you that Macs are impervious, that there are no exploits for the Mac. Things like this contest are a way to prove them wrong and get them to shut the hell up, and to realize that virtually no software is perfect.

I love fanatics - you find them in the strangest places!! NEVER, EVER critisise the object of their fanatasism. Much like owners of Porsches,Merc's or BMw's.

May I make the point that vulnerabilities exist in Mac's and Linux software. BUT, who in their right mind would take the trouble to exploit them??

Mac's are run (by and large) by graphic designers and Linux by techno geeks - who have no money. Further, they are in the minority so where's the respect from your fellow hackers for bringing down x gazillion desktops.

Which came first: the chicken or the egg? I suggest that, should Linux or Mac become what M/S already is, should all these advocates make their millions from the adoption of THEIR solutions, in other words, should Linux/Mac become the standard, these same fanatics would become invisible.

So please, please stop whining about "windoze" and understand that there are those of us who are grateful to Bill and the boys for changing the world we live in. This includes all of us that belong to the older generation who remember what the world was like before all the technology you take for granted.

Of course, Microsoft is not perfect, of course Microsoft have not always been intelligent in its marketing, of course Microsoft have been guilty of some extremely short sighted thinking. And, of course, the challenge from Linux is healthy - what you forget is that we have seen this before - when Novell was the standard and M/S the challenger and MY generation of techno-geeks LOVED M/S as the challenger.

But remember, M/S products and strategy was part of what made it possible for you to have an audience today.

In other words GROW UP

> But remember, M/S products and strategy was part of what made it

> possible for you to have an audience today.

Inasmuch as Microsoft has made the IT industry what it is today — dramatically larger than it really should be, completely obsessed with conformity, and working eighty-hour weeks and getting fired as soon as they start thinking they might want a family, or, indeed, a life, I agree.

> In other words GROW UP

Shorter translation of a long post: I don't know much about Macs or Linux, and I don't want to, and anyone who likes them enough to argue that they're actually better than Windows is clearly being immature.

Thank you for your opinion.

-fred