I had to delete my machine!

As many, if not all, of my readers know, I am the proud owner of a first generation Macbook. Now, while would be a just as proud, and maybe more pleased, owner of a latest generation Macbook, (if you’d like to contribute, just click the donate button to the left of your screen), I am very happy with my computer. One of the main reasons I bought a Macbook is because I am a firm believer in getting the most bang for your buck possible.

Thanks to the Macbook’s Intel-based platform and the ingeniuity of the folks at Apple and Parallels, the Macbook can be turned into as many computers as you can think of. With my small, lightweight, 13.3” laptop in tow, I am actually carrying as many as 5 computers. An Apple running Mac OS X 10.4.9, a laptop running Windows XP, a notebook running Ubuntu, an old school portable running Classic (Mac OS 9.01 - via SheepShaver), and a Solaris box, just for good measure. I could just as easily run OS/2 Warp, Windows 3.1, FreeDOS, FreeBSD, or any other 486-based operating systems.

Right now, It’s just OS X and XP. As soon as I fired up Windows XP, and got online to begin the process of filling the needs of my nearly empty Programs folder, I got spyware. I mean in no time at all. I hadn’t even ejected the Windows XP CD yet, and I’m getting never-ending pop-up adds! It was crazy. (That’s what happens when you surf with Internet Explorer, and not Firefox!) It was so bad, that I had to give up that install of XP, and start over with a new virtual machine in Parallels. This time, with Firefox installed right off the bat!

I’m actually not sure if Firefox would have solved everything, but I should have had some protection on my Windows “machine” before I started surfing the web. If I had had something along the lines of Spy Sweeper, I probably would have been alright. I’m just glad my other operating systems aren’t as malware-prone as Windows!