I cautiously entered into the world of Mac over a year ago, purchasing the most affordable model that was offered: the Mac Mini. It was either that, or settle for the cheapest laptop Apple sells, which costs $999. I didn't feel a 13-inch screen would be big enough to suit me, not for full-time use. So I chose the Mini. The reason this option was affordable for me was that I could still use my old monitor, keyboard, and mouse.
For several months I told myself, "Well, it's just a computer; some things work differently, but when you get down to it, it does the same things a PC does."I figured when a new computer is required, I'd go back to Windows and save a few bucks. One reason I felt a little more comfortable with a PC is that it's easy to find someone to work on them if something goes wrong. If my Apple computer crashes, it's a fifty-mile trip to Kansas City.
Of course, that's a moot point so far, since I haven't had a single glitch: no freezes, no popup warnings to scare me to death. Nothing. Meanwhile, the Dell we bought my husband around the same time I got my Mac is always popping up something needing to be downloaded, then refusing to download it.
Like all computers, the Mac Mini came with a free antivirus that expired after ninety days. I corresponded with several Mac owners I've met on the Internet, asking whether they ran an antivirus. Most said no, so after searching the Internet for some sort of free product, I decided to run without one.
AVG finally came up with a link-scanner for Apple products, which offers some protection but doesn't do the full work of an antivirus. After more than ten years of using PC's, I had some qualms about surfing without an antivirus; but everything seemed to keep on ticking just fine.
Yesterday evening I was leafing through the latest edition of Reader's Digest (thanks to a reader who subscribed for me... I love my readers) and came upon some very welcome news on page 52: There's a free antivirus for Macs now!
This morning I downloaded the program and ran a scan. After more than a year of heavy use, this Mac hasn't picked up a single worm, highjacking program, key-logger, nor any type of malware.
Try that with your unprotected PC.
So, although I'm about as far removed from geekdom as anyone could be, it looks like I'm a confirmed Apple user. Maybe the Mac Mini wasn't so expensive after all.
