>It's funny , for years Apple were all like "Macs can't get viruses!" now they're saying "we need app store lock in too prevent malware!".
Yeah, it's funny because:
1) Apple never said that explicitly.
2) It was (and still is true), i.e not that Macs could not technically get viruses, but that they had got no viruses, with the exception of some lame trojans. In all, a minuscule number of OS X Macs were ever affected by anything in the last 12 years, and even those clicked and installed it themselves.
3) All other naysayers, ignoring the practical lack of any real viruses on the platform, pushed for more protection and security measures.
Yes, they did. "Macs are safe and don't get PC viruses" to an expert means "it is possible that attack vectors still exist", but to the general public means "no viruses".
The very next sentence was "a Mac isn’t susceptible to the thousands of viruses plaguing Windows-based computers".
Which it wasn't.
As for custom viruses targeting OS X, none had been seen in the wild for a decade (only some trojans did exist). So the general public's assumptions "Macs are safe" was grounded in pragmatic reality.
That something is theoretically possible (e.g a meteor hitting my house) doesn't make it a real threat.
Now, one could argue that an OS X virus is not only theoretically possible but, unlike the meteor example, also easily achievable.
But still, something being both theoretically possible and easily achievable doesn't make it a real threat.
E.g a neighbour setting my house on fire. I'd rather start worrying about it when it starts happening frequently (instead of never).
Yeah, it's funny because:
1) Apple never said that explicitly.
2) It was (and still is true), i.e not that Macs could not technically get viruses, but that they had got no viruses, with the exception of some lame trojans. In all, a minuscule number of OS X Macs were ever affected by anything in the last 12 years, and even those clicked and installed it themselves.
3) All other naysayers, ignoring the practical lack of any real viruses on the platform, pushed for more protection and security measures.