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To answer the general question, I would say yes. If you have cable modem or a subscriber line I would highly recommend getting one of the consumer firewall/router boxes to go with it, whether you run Windows, or Mac, or Linux. It will save you a world of trouble. If you're on dial-up I still recommend getting a firewall software package, though newest releases of OS X and Windows will probably come with one as part of the base package. Linux firewalling is beyond the scope of this document.
The firewall is named after the firewall in your car, which protects you from the engine compartment.
The idea is that you run a program that intercepts all network traffic coming to and leaving your computer, and if that traffic doesn't conform to a pre-defined set of rules it is not allowed to pass. Running without any firewall means that when you computer is connected to the internet, it can be accessed by nearly anyone in the world. There are unfortunately, a large number of malicious people who would like nothing better than to see your machine injected with a trojan program or keystroke logger or things like that. So, in order to prevent your comptuer from being poked and prodded, you run this firewall software. It intercepts traffic coming in, and if it is not something expected it drops it on the floor. The malicious person is none the wiser. Conversely, if you have a virus or trojan on your computer and you are running a personal firewall, generally you will see a popup window asking you "Would you like program MAKE MONEY FAST XXX to access the Internet?" This sort of thing can clue you in that you need to run your virus program.
Apple Macintosh computers are no less vunderable to hostile programs than Windows or Linux are. Windows being the biggest target bears the brunt of such maliciousness, but just because you have a Mac doesn't mean you are safe. Be sure to run the security updates as you receive them, this is a big help. However, be aware that sometimes this isn't enough. Some bugs may still exist or the update might not actually fix the problem. If you have one of these firewalls in place, and it is set up properly, there are far fewer things anyone in the outside world can do to your computer.
Also note, that if you download and run software from random sites, this can totally bypass any security system you may have in place. I can't tell you how many times I've seen someone run McAfee or Nortons, ZoneAlarm as well as SpyBot and AdAware, and still they download and install things from heaven knows where and wonder why they get infected. No one practices safe computing these days.
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