[tedunangst]

> It wasn’t that long ago that you could install almost anything for OS X from almost any website, and you didn’t really have to worry about what you clicked on.

Full stop. That's a ridiculous statement to make. Are we really pining for a return to such an oblivious mentality? Good riddance.

[wvenable]

But it was true; many years ago it was prevailing wisdom that Mac's were just virus and spyware free.

I'd like to think most technical people realized that Mac was simply not popular enough to be targeted. But most users were simply under the impression their choice of OS was magically protected. From article: "Since it is actually Unix under the hood, OS X has some native protection against the worst types of viruses." Hey look, it's got Unix, I'm totally safe.

[smackfu]

It's a true statement though. OS X users avoided malware by there not being malware, not by being smarter or being protected.

[tedunangst]

It's along the lines of "Not long ago I could back out of my driveway without even looking, but now my new neighbor's kids play in the street."

I will stipulate it's a true statement. Still foolish.

[swang]

Uhm, Apple had an entire campaign about it. "No worries about viruses and other things affecting PCs!"