Is the “malware protection” in Apple’s new Snow Leopard really lame or what? But, it’s on a par with other features of the OS “upgrade.”
Snow Leopard’s anti-malware only looks worse when compared to Windows Security Essentials, which is expected to be free when it comes out of a now-closed beta. WSE is not a be-all, end-all, but Snow Leopard offers “protection” only in the most vague way.
Snow Leopard scans but if you’re infected it won’t remove the infection. What value does that offer–except to tell us when to purchase a real anti-malware application?
Maybe that’s the point. Snow Leopard gives previously unprotected Mac OS users, basically all of us, an early warning that the malware we are all expecting–someday–has finally arrived. Think of it as Apple getting ready for the inevitable.
That’s a good thing, but wouldn’t it be nice if real anti-malware protection were included? Apple has not previously been shy about competing with applications developers and saving us the expense of buying protection separately would be a great selling point, especially since that is what Microsoft is doing with Windows.
Reading the early reviews makes me wonder: How can Apple be charging for Snow Leopard? Simple: Because they can get away with it.
Granted, Snow Leopard isn’t expensive, selling for $10-a-machine if you have more than one Mac. But, it is hard to justify even that unless you need to talk to an Exchange 2007 server.
I am wondering if it might be best to delay the purchase, not forever, but long enough that somebody else will face any problems the “upgrade” might cause? I am not usually that cautious, but Apple usually provides something I actually get excited about when it upgrades the operating system. Not so with Snow Leopard.
Based on what I’ve seen of the new features, I think Apple would be better off giving Snow Leopard away and making customers happy. Assessing a $10-a-Mac “tax” to remain on the current OS release just seems wrong.
And please save me from any more comparisons between Snow Leopard and Windows 7, because in terms of what each contains and its importance, there just isn’t any comparison. Win7 matters a lot, Snow Leopard just barely.
So, yes, I will run by the Apple store and buy a Snow Leopard family pack, but I will only do it right away so I can write about it. Playing with new operating systems in my job. But, I see no reason to load it onto more than one Mac until any problems it presents have been solved–by someone else.
Snow Leopard just doesn’t offer enough to get very excited about.
Industry veteran David Coursey tweets as @techinciter and can be contacted via his Web site.