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Originally Posted by canuckster I've been living without any antivirus software on my home computers for over 4 years now |
I have been doing it for about 8 years - since I got my first Mac.
Your point, though, is perfectly valid (see
this recent Guardian article). An increasing number of people now use a router with a built-in firewall and are generally more tech-savvy, and I see very few virus problems these days on Windows boxes. Spyware and dialler hijacks are also down significantly.
It is also true that Windows is more secure since XP Service Pack 2 - though even Windows 98 is fine if you apply the updates and don't visit porn sites, download warez, or click absolutely anything without thinking.
However, I would not advise anyone with children in the house to throw caution to the winds - even if you set them up with a restricted account they will often learn how to bypass it. Links in instant messages are responsible for a lot of intrusions, and MySpace has had its problems too.
Anyone on this forum presumably qualifies as "tech-savvy", but the most recent problem I had to deal with involved a "rogue" anti-virus program that an unwitting friend had installed in order to protect himself...
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