Title says is all. Check out Making Light for links to details and fixes. It's a Doozy.

Much appreciated, Andrew. A simple fix, but terrifying none the less.

As a PC user I'm curious: do I have to actually read the article before snickering, or it snickering permissible before I click the link.

These PC-vs.-Mac deportment issues are so confusing.

McGehee,
"As a PC user I'm curious: do I have to actually read the article before snickering, or it snickering permissible before I click the link."

You can snicker before, according to Emily Post. But be gracious about it. Also don't forget to update your AV software daily, check the system update from Microsoft for the latest patch, modify Outlook so it's default behaivor isn't lethel, and so on.

Seriously, I've used Windows since 1992, up to XP. Six months ago I got a PowerBook. I've noticed that I've spent more time working and getting 'stuff' done and less time playing system administrator on my local box. It's refreshing. That and OSX is 'unix' and so is, in and of itself, really cool.

Dang, lookit that. I've been a multi-OS user since forever and I'm only just now becoming partisan about my own OS.

Also don't forget to update your AV software daily

Actually, I do forget that. Fortunately, the software always remembers. The idea that protecting a PC system takes a user's valuable time away from "getting things done" is so 1990s. Somewhere along the line some forward-thinking fellow invented a concept called "automation."

Granted, it's a case of "necessity is the mother of invention," but one could argue that a species (or an OS) that is exposed to more dangers evolves into a more robust and viable critter than one that is naturally sheltered from such threats. I have no problem with the PC being compared to the cockroach.

Is the Mac a dodo bird?

"one could argue that a species (or an OS) that is exposed to more dangers evolves into a more robust and viable critter than one that is naturally sheltered from such threats"

One could, but one would be wrong. An OS is not a critter but a machine. It doesn't evolve, it is maintained.

But the metaphor is fun to play with. OS-X is descended from BSD, which is a UNIX-y OS that was code checked and re-written as needed to eliminate flaws - in some cases the re-written code is faster than it's antecedant.

So if the Windows branch of the family is evolving from natural threats, then BSD/OS-X was genetically re-engineered with those exact threats in mind.

I'm not a wild-eyed prophet come to argue and convince you that my way is the path of true and right, but I've had maybe a dozen OSs in front of me, used three of them (counting 'windows' in all it's versions as one) on a regular basis for my desktop, and thus far, this is the one that's the best fit for me. YMMV.

So if the Windows branch of the family is evolving from natural threats, then BSD/OS-X was genetically re-engineered with those exact threats in mind.

Creationist.

All in good fun, of course. ;-)

I always find it comedic whenever a TM thread turns into one of those serious religious wars.

Thanks for the update, Rand. I'd read other sites that spelled out the threat, but none as specifically as the one you linked. Good information.

Thinking out loud: If you can write (and run) a disk image that can do 'bad and dangerous things' to your system, can you have the script in said image open up your address book, then fire off emails...? It sounds suspiciously like this is a major opportunity for a virus writer to take advantage of a gaping hole in OS X.

You're welcome, except I deserve no thanks, other than to provide a blog in which Andrew could put up his post... ;-)

Maybe I need to reformat the template to make author's names more prominent.

Heh. Just saw that. Okay--Thanks Andrew!

An update: the fix on Making Light (and the 5/22/04 update from Apple) dont work.

Run. Hide. Scream. And pray to the update gods...