Time and Chaos question for Tom

[John Formsma]

J.R.,

Yes, of course they work - no doubt about it. My understanding is that the
reason we have viruses is that MS Windows OS (Operating System) is
inherently vulnerable. What I heard is that when MS chose to be "backward
compatible", they of course had to be so with the previous versions of DOS.
In the DOS (Disk Operating System) days, the internet, networking and file
sharing, etc. were not issues to consider when developing an OS. Viruses
were not an issue b/c you didn't have access to another computer (no
networking or transferring info over a phone line, etc). Being backward
compatible allowed vulnerabilities when the file sharing over the internet
became such a big deal.

Linux and other operating systems don't have these vulnerabilities, or at
least not near so many. So, yes, antivirus programs work, but they wouldn't
be so necessary had MS chosen to build a new OS that was not backward
compatible w/ DOS, Win x, etc.

I'm planning to install linux on my desktop soon, just to check out what it
can do. It's supposed to be much more stable than Windows, less vulnerable,
and nowadays has many applications that can be installed to do almost
anything that a Windows PC can do. Of course, there are limitations for the
average user.

Regarding Duaine's comments about using IE and Outlook Express, etc., yes,
those are fairly vulnerable unless you do the security updates that MS
provides. If you set your automatic updating feature to update every day,
shouldn't be a problem. (But I'm using Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird, and
they work great.)

Regards,
John Formsma



-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf
Of J. R. White
Sent: Friday, December 16, 2005 10:15 PM
To: 'Pianotech'
Subject: RE: Time and Chaos question for Tom

Anti-virus programs, good ones, really work.  MSN, Outlook and Internet
Explorer wouldn't be as widely used as they are if they were as vulnerable
as you say.  I've used them for nearly twenty years successfully.  Oh, I've
had battles with viruses and hackers and identity thieves; but, I won.
You might as well say that the way to avoid being killed in a car crash is
to walk.
Why not just learn how to use computers safely?
J R W