Even Windows doesn’t really even need a 3rd party anti-virus anymore. The built in windows defender has gotten so good as to really be all you need for active protection unless you’re insanely stupid and keep bypassing it. Use Malwarebytes for deep file scans once in a blue moon, and you’re golden.
Hate to tell you this, but Linux nor MacOS are safe without AV
It’s just Windows, by far, has the largest share of active systems so everyone targets it. Both MacOS and Linux have their own share of bonafide viruses though
Hate to tell you this, but nuh-uh! My Linux server is just going through a phase where it likes to collect porn ads and share credit card info with Russia!
It’s still not actually needed for experienced users though, I haven’t had a virus in over 10 years, so it hasn’t had anything to catch.
Boy oh boy did it freak the fuck out about the exe I compiled myself from a python script I wrote myself, though. Had to specifically exclude it from defender to stop it from quarantining it every time it ran. All it does is check to see if a link on a website has been updated since last look…
This is the main takeaway that people seem to be missing: follow good computer hygiene, and you’ll be fine.
Keep your shit updated, and don’t download/run things you don’t trust. Keep an unintrusive anti-virus running in the background as a backup just in case there’s a supply chain attack, but don’t rely on it to make your decisions on whether to open a file or not.
Windows 11. It’s not that hard to completely remove. I have also removed Bluetooth and lots of other non essential functions. There are plenty of tools on GitHub that can do it. You can also just use a custom ISO.
Even Windows doesn’t really even need a 3rd party anti-virus anymore. The built in windows defender has gotten so good as to really be all you need for active protection unless you’re insanely stupid and keep bypassing it. Use Malwarebytes for deep file scans once in a blue moon, and you’re golden.
first party antivirus is still antivirus
Hate to tell you this, but Linux nor MacOS are safe without AV
It’s just Windows, by far, has the largest share of active systems so everyone targets it. Both MacOS and Linux have their own share of bonafide viruses though
Hate to tell you this, but nuh-uh! My Linux server is just going through a phase where it likes to collect porn ads and share credit card info with Russia!
for Reeeeeeeeeeally small values of ‘share’.
"Wait! There was Lion! And … … … "
It’s still not actually needed for experienced users though, I haven’t had a virus in over 10 years, so it hasn’t had anything to catch.
Boy oh boy did it freak the fuck out about the exe I compiled myself from a python script I wrote myself, though. Had to specifically exclude it from defender to stop it from quarantining it every time it ran. All it does is check to see if a link on a website has been updated since last look…
This is the main takeaway that people seem to be missing: follow good computer hygiene, and you’ll be fine.
Keep your shit updated, and don’t download/run things you don’t trust. Keep an unintrusive anti-virus running in the background as a backup just in case there’s a supply chain attack, but don’t rely on it to make your decisions on whether to open a file or not.
golden rules of PC hygine:
don’t use an admin account as your main account
if you haven’t directly triggered it yourself, the answer to that pop-up is “no”
It’s only good at detecting windows&office activation tools. I have never ever seen it detect anything other than those.
I don’t even use windows defender. Never had any issues. (My windows PC is primarily for gaming)
Do you have windows 8, 10 or 11?
Defender has been on in the background this entire time and you don’t even know it. It is on by default and incredibly hard to truly disable.
Windows 11. It’s not that hard to completely remove. I have also removed Bluetooth and lots of other non essential functions. There are plenty of tools on GitHub that can do it. You can also just use a custom ISO.
All of them use the wim_uninstall thing, right?
XP is best!
It’s been good since Windows 7. The reason Windows has so many updates is for security.