Mac vs PC - Unique Problem with Youtube - Update

Just a little more on the whole Mac vs. PC controversy. I like to embed video in my blogs, and most of the good stuff comes from YouTube. Over the last several months, I have been getting the following dreaded error:

Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Macromedia's Flash Player. Get the latest Flash player.

All browsers I used, Chrome, Firefox or IE, would show the same error. No matter how many times I reloaded javascript or Adobe's Flash player and plug-ins, this would bedevil me. I finally found a link that suggested I look at my ad blocking software. I uses LavaSoft's Ad-Aware. When I "unloaded" the software, lo and behold, I could once agains play videos on youtube. (By way of accuracy, I could always play YouTube videos embedded on other sites, just never on the YouTube site itself.) I then re-loaded the software, and after some initial difficulties with the load, everything is working great. (The technical detail is to help anyone else with the same issue and I know I am not the only one.)

But it begs the broader question. Why do I have anti-spyware software in the first place? This is because Windows is more susceptible to malware than a Mac. I need anti-spyware, antivirus and separate firewall software to keep my computer safe. Sometimes they don't play nicely with Windows or each other. (Last year a Windows XP upgrade trashed ZoneAlarm for instance.) In my corporate environment, we now have the following products all running together:

• Managed Antivirus (from Symantec)
  
• Host Based Security System (ePolicy Orchestrator from McAfee)
• Windows Server Update Services
• Data at Rest encryption

The complexity of managing the separate systems means that the support costs for Windows dwarfs that of a Mac. Support costs for Windows in a research environment can run up to $1000 per year per machine more. Something to think about in one's total cost of ownership calculation.

UPDATE #1

Well for no reason that I can figure out, my problem with YouTube returned. Unloading the Ad-Aware as before did not fix the problem this time. How maddening.

Is A Mac Really More Expensive?

Recently, my youngest got a virus on his aging Toshiba laptop. I had wanted to hold off buying him a new computer until his graduation, but I looked at the condition and performance of his machine and thought the time was right. I asked him if he wanted to switch to a Mac, but he was content to stay with Windows. I was happier in the short term, because the price of a Sony Vaio with 4Gb RAM comes in at $700, about half the price of a comparably equipped Macbook Pro. But is it really a bargain?

Consider this, before I let the new machine on the internet, we need to make sure that we get anti-virus, firewalls, and anti-spyware all up and running. Furthermore, there are potentially ongoing subscription costs for that software. All the extra overhead makes me wonder why the corporate world is not moving to the Mac more quickly. With my son wanting to major in computer engineering, I am turning more of the systems administration duties over to him. Hopefully, his time will be taxed, not mine.

And that virus on the old machine. The prospect of living without a computer for a month got him motivated to eventually find the fix for it and get it eradicated on his own.