Lexington Minuteman

Spyhunter user

Lexington Minuteman, Requiem for windows.

It has been my observation during 25 years as a technology journalist that most people don't pay sufficient attention to computer maintenance. We should routinely clean inside the system unit, fan intake, keyboard and mouse, defrag the hard drive, and install software updates that keep your hardware and programs compatible.

In the past year, another form of maintenance has emerged: Let's call it Internet maintenance. The Internet has become a sewer, and Windows PCs have turned into backed-up toilets of Spam, spyware, junk e-mail, viruses and pop-up ads.

Walter Mossberg, the dean of computer journalists who writes the weekly "Personal Technology" column for the Wall Street Journal, put it this way:

"If you use a Windows personal computer to access the Internet, your personal files, your privacy and your security are all in jeopardy. An international criminal class of virus writers, hackers, digital vandals and sleazy businesspeople wakes up every day planning to attack your PC."

Mossberg goes on to document all the insidious dangers and the seven types of software you need to protect your Windows PC. Why must you go to such lengths? Mossberg explains:

"And the company that controls the Windows platform, Microsoft, has made this too easy to do by carelessly opening numerous security holes in the (Windows) operating system and its Web browser."

If you're a licensed Windows customer, you've received numerous Microsoft XP security updates over the past few years. But they weren't enough: Microsoft released Service Pack 2, which incorporates a firewall and is supposed to do a better job of protecting your PC. Unfortunately - as if often the case - the cure is as bad or worse than the malady. David Pogue, an online columnist for The New York Times, wrote two cautionary columns filled with dense technical instructions for how to avoid disastrous problems installing SP2.

Who needs this grief? I asked myself. Stymied by numerous Web site access problems because of settings I was unaware of or obliged to change in ZoneAlarm, the best firewall on the market, I found myself running Spyhunter, Sophos anti-virus, deleting stuff, clearing caches and temporary files, changing Internet Explorer and ZoneAlarm settings, etcetera, spending over two hours a week dealing with these and other problems.

Then my two-year-old Sony RX-670 suddenly had a massive heart attack. After spending about $200 on two Geekhousecalls, the verdict was a main circuit board failure, exact cause unknown. It was as if all my mounting feelings and suspicions about the Windows environment were being confirmed. I'd spent enough time with my Apple G4 Powerbook (see my column of May 8, 2003) to know it was not only good hardware but a great platform, not nearly as susceptible to attacks and Internet sewer rats as Windows.

Thus the decision to replace my Windows computer with an Apple was a no-brainer. I bought an iMac G5 with the 20" monitor. It's a work of sculptural and engineering art: The entire computer is within the 2-inch-thick monitor, which perches on a 3/8-inch-thick slab of curved aluminum. When it arrived, I set it up and turned it on; then it asked me if I already had a Mac and if I'd like to transfer my software and documents. I said yes, and a few minutes later I had an exact copy of my Powerbook - every application, every file I'd created, even the desktop wallpaper, replicated on my new G5.

Amazing.

So amazing that the instant connection to my home wireless Netgear network, the ease of networking my Powerbook, the effortless recognition of my Maxtor One-Touch 300GB backup drive (which had all my Windows documents backed up), and the compete absence of excrement from the Internet were more or less ho-hum.

Perhaps the only thing as amazing was that an editor colleague of mine had an identical experience simultaneous with mine, and had made the same exact decision.

I made one significant change to my system at the user interface. I have never been fond of Apple's keyboards, as far back as my first Macintosh in 1984. I also dislike the mouse because it requires so much manipulation and forces my hand and wrist to tense up. So I upgraded to Logitech's Cordless Desktop Pro keyboard and wired Marble Mouse. I absolutely love this ergonomic split keyboard and dedicated keys for e-mail and other functions, including controlling iTunes.

Windows 1.0, 2.0, 3.1, for Workgroups, 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP. Been there. Done that. Adios, Windows. Hello to Apple's OS X cats: Panther now, Tiger next year.

Meow.