Mac noob, need help please

[heatherkt]

I just purchased a macbood air, my first mac, I would like to know if I need to install an anti virus, what's the first thing I should do, and what programs I should install, I would appreciate any help you can offer. Thanks.

[Tallest Skil]

Welcome, eh!

No viruses. Breath easy and surf happy.

I wouldn't have said that a MacBook Air is a good first Mac, but have fun with it and play around.

[dejo]

The first you should do is read the Mac Beginner's Guide (http://guides.macrumors.com/Mac_Beginner%27s_Guide). The second thing you should do is take advantage of search. :)

[TEG]

No Viruses (so to speak) so no real need for an Anti-Virus. However, Norton or one of the other Anti-Virus programs will help you find Windows viruses on your computer and prevent them from being spread to Windows machines.

TEG

[dejo]

However, Norton...
is crap and should NOT be run on Mac OS X!

[levitynyc]

I just purchased a macbood air, my first mac, I would like to know if I need to install an anti virus, what's the first thing I should do, and what programs I should install, I would appreciate any help you can offer. Thanks.

This has to be fake.

No one would drop 1800 on a mac without knowing that macs don't get viruses.

[TEG]

is crap and should NOT be run on Mac OS X!

It is better than nothing for weeding out Windows Viruses.

TEG

[killmoms]

I just purchased a macbood air, my first mac, I would like to know if I need to install an anti virus, what's the first thing I should do, and what programs I should install, I would appreciate any help you can offer. Thanks.

I know there are guides, but I always like to pass on my personal preferences. ;)

Firstly, most stuff on OS X you install by downloading a .dmg file, or a disk image. This is like a virtual "disk" that appears on your desktop when you open it, like you plugged in a removable drive. From there you copy the application to your Applications folder on your Macintosh HD. Then you eject the disk that appeared (by dragging it to where the trash usually is in your Dock, it turns into an Eject symbol when you start dragging an ejectable volume) and can delete the disk image. Some applications have installers that you just double click, if they need to put files in locations other than your Applications folder to run. These will be packages, or there will be instructions in the disk image. A very few applications will just unzip directly in your Downloads folder, and you'll want to move these to the Applications folder. But it's pretty straightforward most of the time.

First things I'd install are some basic Internet utilities. For IM I use Adium (http://www.adiumx.com/), it's a great multi-IM client (connects to AIM, MSN, Yahoo, Google Talk, and many more). If you go on IRC or use FTP servers, I'd recommend Colloquy (http://colloquy.info) and Transmit (http://www.panic.com/transmit/) respectively (Cyberduck (http://cyberduck.ch/) is a decent free alternative, but I think Transmit is worth the money).

For local media playback I always recommend people get Perian (http://perian.org/). It's a codec component for QuickTime that adds support for DivX/XviD videos, MKV files, Flash video, and a whole lot more. I also recommend Flip4Mac (http://www.flip4mac.com/) which lets QuickTime play back Windows Media files.

What other sorts of utilities might you need? I'm sure there are recommendations out there.

It is better than nothing for weeding out Windows Viruses.

TEG
It's also not our responsibility to muck up our own machines trying to compensate for the weaknesses of the other platform.

[Scott6666]

This has to be fake.

No one would drop 1800 on a mac without knowing that macs don't get viruses.

That's just silly. Less vulnerable maybe but not invulnerable.

[killmoms]

That's just silly. Less vulnerable maybe but not invulnerable.

There are no self-spreading viruses for OS X. There are a couple trojans that rely on user ignorance to install, only one of which got any amount of penetration (that porn "codec" one).

Yes, there are security problems that are regularly patched by Apple, no OS X is not some perfect, flawless creation. But it is immune to self-spreading viruses, because there aren't any out there at the moment.

[xraydoc]

That's just silly. Less vulnerable maybe but not invulnerable.

Perhaps. But there are NO Mac viruses in the wild. Don't need a bullet-proof vest when there are no bullets.

[dejo]

It is better than nothing for weeding out Windows Viruses.
There are plenty of reports of Norton messing up people's systems. That's worse than nothing. Plus, it may actually make your system LESS secure (http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/security/soa/Norton-Anti-Virus-makes-Mac-OS-X-less-secure-/0,130061744,139229157,00.htm).

[youradhere4222]

This has to be fake.

No one would drop 1800 on a mac without knowing that macs don't get viruses.

Let's use a little logic, shall we?

What self-gain could the original poster get from pretending to buy a Mac then ask a question about it on a forum?

The truth of the matter is Macs do get viruses, although they are very, very rare. Mac OS X is in no way immune to viruses, but why would someone make a virus knowing that there's a one-in-twenty chance it's going to infect someone if it's a .DMG; or any Mac format, for that matter.

[Fatum]

I agree with everyone stating that there are no self spreading viruses for Mac OS X, but please do not forget the little intermezzo we had with Opener. :confused: Evil malware :mad:!!!

Ok, this was back in 2004. But never the less, it is only 4 years ago, :D

Ok, this was fun, I am going for a Guru Meditation now :cool::cool:.

Regards

[bamaworks]

Bah, antivirus is a waste of money

[w00tini]

I wouldn't have said that a MacBook Air is a good first Mac, but have fun with it and play around.

the MBA is my first mac...and i'm in wuv <3 :)