There is lots of misinformation in the report - the Startupitems folder belongs to system:wheel and by default it is not possible to place anything there.

Moreover, even if you _could_ do this as an admin user, you must have physical access to the machine or admin access via SSH or something. Once you have that, you can do anything on every machine. Quite overrated if you ask me and miles away from the usual Windows problems.

Dan, you forgot about Jef Raskin ragging on OS X "being a mess". Anything else out there about Mac being inferior to Windows today?

Huh? Where did I say anything about Windows? I just warned of a potential issue and recommended you keep your machine up to date.

Would I have written about how much I hate cmd.exe a couple weeks ago if I was just trying to point out how Windows is superior to the mac?

"Huh? Where did I say anything about Windows?"

You didn't have to. The "malware" report you cited is absurd. You know it. "Potential" doesn't begin to excuse it. That's like grabbing a complete stranger outside and inviting him inside your home and then complaining about getting robbed. Yes, if you give me access to install my little app anywhere on your computer, I may do some harm. You could blog this "potential" problem any day. Why now? Why this? Why Mac? How many times have you written about *actual* Windows security issues, compared to this sort of absurdly "potential" Mac issues?

Fair enough. I'll be sure to report more of the Windows issues, although I see those well reported elsewhere. I think it's critically important for both Mac users and Windows users to be vigilant about keeping their OS up to date with the latest patches. Most Windows users know this because they've seen the consequence. But, I've seen lots of Mac users who think they are immune to these sorts of issues, but I don't think they are. Mac users need to be just as vigilant.