Nope. Since '05 my G5 has only had to keep up with Apple's auto security updates. My router has a firewall, too.
Nope. Since '05 my G5 has only had to keep up with Apple's auto security updates. My router has a firewall, too.
Yes,
I have been a Mac user since 1986 when I got my first Mac+ (No hard drive and every thing ran off a 400k floppy drive). While most of the time Macs do not need anti-virus software there have been rare occasions when viruses were written for the Mac. I have worked for several Mac only firms over the years. I remember in the late 90's some viruses made it to the Mac. The computers that didn't have an anti-virus program running got hit. You don't want to be the person who loses your work because of no anti-virus software. IMO - the peace of mind is worth the price of the software. I have run Sophos in the past and currently use ClamXav (Mac OS 10.5.2 - MBPro).
I also have several PC's running Win-XP Pro with AVG anti-virus.
r.
What's a virus?
vinny, mac user
I am running two MAC SYSTEMS .
The one is a G5 MAC OS X 10.5.2 with two big screens . This system is only run for my PSCS3 work and printing work . I do not use an internet connection here . So there is no virus protection installed .
My MACBOOK is mainly used for E-mail and internet activities . Here I have virus barrier V 5.0 installed and feel quite safe with it .
I've had an Imac for 2 years, never had a virus checker or had any problems. One of the reasons I went over to Mac. My son has had an apple powerbook for much longer and he's not had any problems either!
Regards
Steve
Hi Harley,
No on the anti-virus.
Yes on the firewall.
Yes on the Apple security updates.
Cheers
Life in the fast lane!
No and yes...
In the past I would have said no - but I have found recently that Macs do get viruses - if you have to use things such as MS Office for Mac etc....
At our museum (all mac) one mac got a really annoying ancient MS Word "virus" from the late 90's...
It didn't actually do anything except replicate itself in other MS Word docs. And it was so old, non of the current AV software had removal tools for it - tried them all - (they would find it but not remove it...).
The only way to remove it was to reset Mac Word security settings and then find every single Word document on an infected Mac (via ClamXAV), and, by hand, cut and paste the contents to a non infected doc - this varied from 6 files on computer to 1600 on another...
BUT - even though it didn't actually do any harm itself, it caused problems. The Museum runs through our City Hall's IT system - their ingoing and outgoing AV/Firewalls would tag emails with infected Word docs and strip them out - but it would email you and let you know it had done so. But our Foundation head office runs through a large local commercial Internet Provider. After the first 20 or 30 emails (and then continuing) their AV setup must have eventually tagged them as a source of infection and it just deleted every infected email - so, many of their emails just disappeared en route without them knowing.
I guess the lesson is never use MS for Mac software.... but in this case that wasn't our choice.
Running the free ClamXAV every now and then can be worth it just to double check if you have caught anything..
You'd be amazed how small the demand is for pictures of trees... - Fred Astaire to Audrey Hepburn
www.photo-muse.blogspot.com blog
If you need to interoperate with Office files, but you prefer to not purchase and install Microsoft software, you can use the Mac version of Open Office, called NeoOffice. Both are very good, open source, and free.
No antivirus. I agree with Tim on the ClamXAV program though. It seems like a great tool to have on your mac.
Another great app is TechTool Pro from Micromat. It's a great utility for diagnosing problems with your machine. If you have Applecare on your mac, you can download a version of TechTool on your machine at no cost. It's not the full pro version, but it includes some nice utilities. I just found this out recently.
From everything I've read and heard about people installing anti-virus software such as Symantec or McAfee on their macs leads to nothing but trouble. Such as a drastic decrease in system performance.
~Nate
With my Windows machines, I have learned, through bitter experience, to avoid Symantec like the plague. On a positive note, they have wonderful packaging.
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