Best Anti-Virus & Other "Must Have" Applications For New MacBook Pro User

If you search this forum, you'll find numerous threads on the subject of antivirus. Short answer - unless you frequently visit port sites or the dark web, or run that inferior OS (Windows) under VM or Boot Camp, you don't need an antivirus. And don't waste your money on crapware like MacKeeper and such.

As to photo app's, don't waste your money on Aperture. It's being replaced by (along with iPhoto) Photos for Mac in April. If you're serious about photography, look at something like Lightroom or Adobe's Creative Cloud Photography program. There are other threads on alternate photo editors under the photography forum here.

You don't need one, but if you still want one, then take a look at ClamXav - free or Kaspersky

No antivirus software, just common sense and be vigilante with your admin password

As mentioned, Aperture is going away, so you might want to try:
Pixelmator, Photoshop Elements, Acorn

Oh, and please set up a backup strategy
Time Machine is simple and easy, and Carbon Copy Cloner will make a bootable backup
Storage space is always cheaper than data recovery

I find Dropbox, Evernote and Todoist to be essential for me

as for tutorials, Apple used to have a "from Windows to OS X " section, but they seem to have removed it (?)

but you can find most of the things here:
https://www.apple.com/support/macbasics/

There really isn't much difference, just CTRL is now CMD, a bit shorter distance on the keyboard when using shortcuts

i1280 said:

• Are there any "must have" applications? I like to edit photography, so I was looking into Aperture...but what else is out there that may be better for photography or an app that's helpful in general?

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Check out the digital photography forum, there's a number of discussions of software, especially in light of Aperture's demise.

Nifty tools I use:

iStat Menus
http://bjango.com/mac/istatmenus

BetterSnap Tool (and BetterTouchTool)
http://blog.boastr.net
Use your multitouch trackpad to snap windows left, right, minimize, even gestures to perform actions (e.g. half triangle = screen off)

Do you have an iPad 2 or above?
http://www.duetdisplay.com

I think VLC is a must have for watching videos. As for the antivirus stuff, I can only echo what others have said... (and avoid MacKeeper like the plague!)

Not an anti-virus app, but there is something free called "AdwareMedic" that seems to be useful in getting rid of adware that gets "picked up" now and then...

Fishrrman said:

Not an anti-virus app, but there is something free called "AdwareMedic" that seems to be useful in getting rid of adware that gets "picked up" now and then...

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Agreed. Never had need of anti-virus stuff but I have used adwareMedic before and it worked quite well.

i1280 said:

• What's the best Anti-Virus to use? Being an xfinity/Comcast user, I get a free version of Norton Anti-Virus and I also got a free trial version of Trend Micro IS from Best Buy (not really interested I that one.)

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Macs are not immune to malware, but no true viruses exist in the wild that can run on Mac OS X, and there never have been any since it was released over 12 years ago. The only malware in the wild that can affect Mac OS X is a handful of trojans, which can be easily avoided by practicing safe computing (see below). 3rd party antivirus apps are not necessary to keep a Mac malware-free, as long as a user practices safe computing, as described in the following link.Read the What security steps should I take? section of the Mac Virus/Malware FAQ for tips on practicing safe computing.

i1280 said:

• Is there a website out there that is good to use as a tutorial? Or for helpful hints?

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Mac Basics
Switch Basics: On Windows, I used to...
Switch Basics: Migrate your Windows files to your Mac

I recently switched from 20 years using Windows to the Mac. One of the first things I realized is that you really don't need an anti-virus. I'm sure there are times you could get a virus, but through normal activities, it's SUPER rare on a Mac.

For editing photos, I love Pixelmator. It's $30, but regularly goes on sale for $15. Also, check out Affinity Photo. It's in Beta right now and you can download it for free on their website. Of course, depending on how easy you want it, something like iPhoto may do just fine for you.

Must have for me after about 6 months of use are:

• BetterSnapTool
• Fantastical
• iStat Menus
• Alerts for Gmail

I have other must-haves, too, like Evernote, MS Office, Scrivener, etc, but none of them are Mac-specific, which is what I gather you're looking for.

JuryDuty said:

I'm sure there are times you could get a virus, but through normal activities, it's SUPER rare on a Mac.

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You can't get a virus on OS X, as none exist in the wild. See my earlier post.

Old Muley said:

I think VLC is a must have for watching videos.

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I'm going to say MplayerX http://mplayerx.org/#sthash.LrFSHtW9.dpbs is a nice alternative to VLC. Mac-only and is beautiful to use.

I almost forgot, but VOX is also beautiful for music playback, escpecially if you have flac or like playing individual tracks, and are not bound by iTunes.
http://coppertino.com/

i1280 said:

What about mail clients? Any that are better than what mac offers?

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I get along fine with the included Mail. I initially installed and used outlook because that's what I was used to on windows but converted over after about a month. Main reason was Mail interfaces better with my contacts, which are pushed back and forth from my computers to iOS devices.

And, pixelmater is good stuff and worth the modest amount it costs. I'm also interested in seeing the replacement for Aperture. And for playing videos, you've got Quicktime and iTunes already. Plus, you can just single-click on any video file on your computer, hit the spacebar, and the video starts playing. (Spacebar on any selected file almost always opens up an associated internal viewer with, 9 times out of 10, is quite sufficient for casual review.)

Duet display only requires an iPad and the included cable.
I have recently switched from an iPad 3 to iPad mini 2 and although functionality wise they're the same, the iPad Mini 2 has less lag. It was cool to show a friend a youtube video directly from the iPad from the Mac, without having to load up the app and wait.

The best part about it is that you can use the touch screen as mouse.

anthorumor said:

I'm going to say MplayerX http://mplayerx.org/#sthash.LrFSHtW9.dpbs is a nice alternative to VLC. Mac-only and is beautiful to use.

I almost forgot, but VOX is also beautiful for music playback, escpecially if you have flac or like playing individual tracks, and are not bound by iTunes.
http://coppertino.com/

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Kodi might be even a better addition or even replacement to VLC and other players. It really makes a true entertainment center from mac.