Apple, High Sierra, Security, and Idiots

So, for those who don't know, macOS 10.13 (High Sierra) had a massive security flaw where you could type "root" as the username and no password, and it would initialize the root account with no password. Yeah... People pretty quickly forgot about all the times Microsoft fucked up and allowed login bypasses in Windows 9x and ME, or bypassing the SAM (Security Access Management database) to log in as an admin. Or the brief time there was a similar issue in Ubuntu, thanks to an uninitialized root account being created under su privileges if the user did something (relatively) stupid.

That said, I'm not happy with High Sierra either, but mostly because performance issues are so common for both my late 2011 Mac Mini and my mid 2012 MacBook Air. No doubt the thing will be unusable on my 2009 iMac that's coming in the mail (Hatchday/Christmas present from my parents). I've got my MacBook Air and Mac Mini running Sierra, the iMac will probably be restricted to that (or El Capitan), and I have a (barely working) 2006 MacBook (snow white plastic is 💖) that probably won't go past the big cat releases. It's currently on Snow Leopard, and I hesitate to go past that. Might try Mountain Lion at some point, though. I have a Snow Leopard DVD to fall back on if I need to.

And some people might be wondering, "TeraDyne, you gush over Windows Vista and Windows 7. Why the sudden deep Mac love again?" . Well, to put it bluntly: Windows 10 is a steaming pile of shit, and while I'd love a modern system and OS, I refuse to go back to GNU/Linux because of the infighitng and how that has been becoming a steaming pile of Windows 10 as well. macOS has been relatively stable and safe, and High Sierra aside, works rather well. And the hardware isn't guess work as to what will and won't work, because I can literally look it up.

I'm not much of a PC hardware person. I don't need the latest and greatest, and the PC Master Race people can seriously go back to humping their GPUs that cost almost as much as a used PC. Hell, the iMac I've got coming in the mail was only $130, and I've got memory to upgrade it. I don't need anything ultra-strong. I just want something that'll sit on my desk with a decent screen, let me write, let me access my Windows machine via Remote Desktop (or Boot Camp), and occasionally play a few games (hidden object games, Marathon trilogy, Pathways Into Darkness, League of Legends, and maybe some cheap-o indie titles). Not much power needed.

And before anyone mentions all-in-one PCs, remember that they're running Windows 10, and most won't allow Windows 7 to be installed, or it won't be supported by the hardware. iMacs are still fairly supported by software even as far back as 2009 models. I'd have to go out of my way to build a Windows desktop with the necessary parts, and that could extend into the $300-$400 range pretty easily for low-end parts. I'd need mid-range parts to make that path worth it.

A used Mac (or the Macs I have) is right for me. I'm familiar with the OS, I enjoy using it, it has the features I need, it does what I need, the OS stays fairly modern, and used Macs are fairly cheap if you know where to look.

And yes, I've been told by people that I'm an idiot for going this path. The thing is, I use what I want, and their opinions donouldn't matter at all. They really don't, because it's my decision to make, not theirs. And that's what's important.

If I seem a bit salty about it, it's because, in many ways, the smartest people are too often the greatest idiots when it comes to social behavior. Just look at Google if you want a good example of that. Google Buzz, Google+, Google Chat's forced changes, telling people they need to use a smartphone-centric chat app instead of a real chat app (Google Hangouts), having more changes than a 1yo's bottom half... Yeah...

Anyway, I'm done ranting, but I will finish with this: Fuck you, Satya Nadella, for the trainwreck that is Windows 10. You made Windows ME look like a good idea, and I hope you realize the massive mistakes you made eventually. Please step down and bring back Steve Ballmer. He was a much better leader.