The appearance of two viruses on the Mac -- which were more proof-of-concept scrawlings and less a real danger -- has analysts tripping over themselves as they alternate between doom, gloom and outright glee ... finally the Mac is exposed!
What Will Apple Do When the Malware Comes? by Larry Seltzer is one such article which alternates between pondering life with viruses on a Mac, and the more complex issue of life with malware (e.g. software that pretends to be helpful but actually isn't) appearing on the platform, and ultimately comes to the conclusion that Apple's own counter-monoculture could work against it.

I think though, that he misses one of the major aspects of the Mac that works in its users' favor -- namely that Mac people help Mac people. I'm not saying that Windows people can't be benevolent -- they certainly can be -- but in my experience Mac addicts go out of their way to help their fellows solve problems. Be it online through Macintouch or in the real world through Mac User Groups, you're part of a larger family, a family that protects and helps its members.

Should a particular piece of malware or virus get out there, I think you'd see the community rally remarkably well, getting the word out and crushing the intruder as quickly as possible. More over, Macs have the advantage of having thousands of Unix geeks on their side. While even veteran Windows users shrug in frustration when forced to deal with the registry, the long-beards of the Mac ranks glory in delving into Mac OS X's Unix underpinnings, exposing faults and brewing up their own homegrown solutions.

Should Mac users be aware of possible threats? Sure -- a little paranoia is a good thing when it comes to computing. But don't expect that the lessons of the Windows community can be directly applied to the Mac one -- we really do think -- and act -- different.