<p>the only way you can know if you have a virus is if you have software that detects it. i suspect your mac has plenty of virus'</p>
<p>Grantb. It's time to give it up, please go to the link that Iderochi posted. Believe me for the viruses that my PC has had I didn't need the anti-virus software to first let me know about it. They wreak havoc. If I had ever had a virus on my Mac, I am sure I would know about it. Moreover, if you have a virus that hasn't affected anything what is the difference. I wouldn't even consider that to be a virus. I have never had any problems with any of my Macs. This is getting kind of silly.</p>
<p>most virus' run in the background of your system, which slow down your system. i've used many of my friends' macs, and at the beginning of the year they were dozens of times faster than at the end. virus', also known as spyware, track usage and can send confidential information to third parties. i'm sure you don't want this to happen either.
originally, the reason macs would not get as many virus' was because personal computers were almost completely pc's. as more and more people begin using mac computers (and laptops) more and more virus' will be made for macs. personally, i'd rather have the protection than hoping i don't get a virus. but of course, that's just my opinion</p>
<p>"originally, the reason macs would not get as many virus' was because personal computers were almost completely pc's. as more and more people begin using mac computers (and laptops) more and more virus' will be made for macs."</p>
<p>Actually just the opposite is true. Apple used to dominate the desktop market, but lost market share because it wouldn't license its operating system to other computer manufacturers. (unlike Microsoft) It is regaining share, but it is no where near where it once was.</p>
<p>Iderochi took issue with something I said, provided support for it and we were all better off for his contribution. </p>
<p>First without support you claimed that viruses are as common in Macs as they are in PCs. Now you are claiming that there are viruses, apparently known to you, but unknown to the experts, that over time slow down Macs. This is exactly why I felt compelled to respond to your original post. You have made another statement without any substantiation that is completely foreign to my experience as a long time Mac user and a reader of commentary on computers.</p>
<p>It would be great if you would look at the link that Iderochi provided or for that matter googled "Mac" and "virus" before making these statements, but I can see that that isn't going to happen. You seem insistent on not acknowledging that mac viruses are "very rare" no matter what the experts say. </p>
<p>I do have an idea however. Why don't we agree that readers of this thread shouldn't rely on what either one of us has to say. Instead let's agree that when it comes to the issue of avoiding viruses through the choice of a computer, we recommend that readers ignore us and google "mac" and "virus". This would serve two purposes- readers who were interested would get accurate information and you could continue to believe what you want to believe without comment from me.</p>
<p>relax, i'm giving my opinion from my experiences.</p>
<p>opinions concerning macs based on the experiences of a pc user . OK that really does lower the bar. </p>
<p>Anyway, as noted above concerning Iderochi's post, even though I use a Mac and a PC on a daily basis, I am not opposed to letting facts alter my opinions. </p>
<p>To each his own.</p>
<p>Getting back to the original post for a moment -- I see where Elon now has a "preferred computer" program <a href="http://www.elon.edu/technology/documents/preferred%20laptop%20program.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.elon.edu/technology/documents/preferred%20laptop%20program.pdf</a>
They chose the Gateway convertible tablet for the preferred computer? It's gotten generally postive (not incredible) reviews but my son tried it and absolutely hated it. Too heavy, screen had a glare problem, and it seemed sluggish when re-orienting from notebook to tablet. But then again, he hates tablets so he's not an unbiased source. As Phillies said, to each his own.</p>