Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Mac'nCheese

Suspended
Original poster
Feb 9, 2010
3,752
5,109
When I buy my new imac shortly, does anybody recommend buying a third party virus program like norton or does the new(ish) snow leopard handle viruses fine on its own?
 
When I buy my new imac shortly, does anybody recommend buying a third party virus program like norton or does the new(ish) snow leopard handle viruses fine on its own?

No, no one recommends it. There are no Mac viruses, so there is nothing for Snow Leopard (or anything else) to handle (unless you want to detect Windows viruses, to avoid passing them along.)
 
that's silly....

That's just crazy. I know that there are so many more pc viruses but there are mac ones, as well. I know because a few years ago, my imac got one. That's why I bought Norton. And it was an apple customer rep that helped me figure out that I had a virus and recommended norton to clear it up.
 
That's just crazy. I know that there are so many more pc viruses but there are mac ones, as well. I know because a few years ago, my imac got one. That's why I bought Norton. And it was an apple customer rep that helped me figure out that I had a virus and recommended norton to clear it up.

Not to be rude, but you obviously have no idea what you're talking about. Neither did your customer rep.
 
Norton does more damage than any nonexistent virii. There are no, repeat NO, viruses in the OSX realm, and haven't been from 10.0 on.

Trojans and self-inflicted malware are another issue, and those are simply relying on an unsuspecting user to do something dumb, but as a Mac owner since 1985, I have NEVER had virus software that wasn't a resource hog and soon removed because of its utter uselessness, and have NEVER been infected by anything whatsoever.

Save yourself the time, money, and aggravation, and just go compute happily, with a dash of common sense and a healthy skepticism about dodgy websites. Torrent at your own risk. ;)
 
and have NEVER been infected by anything whatsoever.

What about that rash after 'Nam... wait, that was something different

Totally agree
Norton is an abomination

And no AV is needed whatsoever

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 
Search next time. Hundreds of previous, identical threads, with identical answers, no virus on OS X:

Giz Explains: Why OS X Shrugs Off Viruses Better Than Windows
http://i.gizmodo.com/5101337/giz-explains-why-os-x-shrugs-off-viruses-better-than-windows

The Mac Malware Myth
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2009/01/29/the-mac-malware-myth/

The Unavoidable Malware Myth
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/...-apple-wont-inherit-microsofts-malware-crown/

Market Share Myth
http://blogs.bellinghamherald.com/i...uter_virus_record_straig&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1
 
Not to be rude, but you obviously have no idea what you're talking about. Neither did your customer rep.

Thanks to most of you for your help. I'm sure you all think I'm crazy but I swear that a few years ago my internet slowed down to a near crawl, I called the apple help line, they talked me through some steps to check out settings on my imac, he said my computer was attacked by SOMETHING maybe not called a virus, but some outside, malicious program and advised me to buy and run norton. I did and the problem cleared up. I'm sorry if I offended people by suggesting that maybe macs are not as perfect as everyone says, but this is what happened. You should know, that I am taking your advice, will not buy norton again which everyone says can cause more damage then good but the person who posted not to be rude.... of course you meant to be rude! Instead of offering advice or being helpful at all, all you wanted to do was be rude and condescending. But you're right. I have no idea what happened to my computer a few years ago...I made it all up. You got me! WAAAAAA!!!!
 
That's just crazy. I know that there are so many more pc viruses but there are mac ones, as well. I know because a few years ago, my imac got one. That's why I bought Norton. And it was an apple customer rep that helped me figure out that I had a virus and recommended norton to clear it up.

I installed a PC today. Fresh install for a friend. We both casually used it on the internet for about 2 hours, before I remembered it needed an antivirus. I downloaded and installed Avira AntiVirus. It insisted on running a scan. It found 11 viruses.

I have been using my Mac for about year now, with 1 re-install when I upgraded to Snow Leopard. I have not once had a virus. An antivirus for your mac on OS X is not worth the ram.
 
I installed a PC today. Fresh install for a friend. We both casually used it on the internet for about 2 hours, before I remembered it needed an antivirus. I downloaded and installed Avira AntiVirus. It insisted on running a scan. It found 11 viruses.

I have been using my Mac for about year now, with 1 re-install when I upgraded to Snow Leopard. I have not once had a virus. An antivirus for your mac on OS X is not worth the ram.

Thank you for the nicely worded advice. I wish more of you guys on this website could be polite and helpful. I won't waste the ram.
 
There is a possibility that the advice he was given was correct. The only explanation for this situation was if he was still running Mac OS 9.x - which does have a few, now incredibly obscure, virii. As a side-note I dont run any anti-virus programs on any Macs except my MacBook, and even then its simply because without it I couldnt get the right permissions to connect to my college network (they refused to give me the wireless password till I did and still have occasional spot-checks) (I have the Intego solution, and it is totally unnecessary - luckily it doesnt actually sap much if any CPU).
 
There is a possibility that the advice he was given was correct. The only explanation for this situation was if he was still running Mac OS 9.x - which does have a few, now incredibly obscure, virii. As a side-note I dont run any anti-virus programs on any Macs except my MacBook, and even then its simply because without it I couldnt get the right permissions to connect to my college network (they refused to give me the wireless password till I did and still have occasional spot-checks) (I have the Intego solution, and it is totally unnecessary - luckily it doesnt actually sap much if any CPU).


To be honest, I don't remember which os I had at the time but thank you for actually thinking about my post and not just firing off some unbelievable rude, not helpful response. I just saw a show on CNBC about how all mac users love to help each other, especially people who aren't that into computers (especially macs) and are seeking advice others might consider to be "common knowledge". Good to know some of you are like that.
 
Wow, out of 7 responses to your post, you got 6 that answered your questions directly,
and 1 mildly snarky response from miles01110 and you can't let it go?

You must have a pretty tough time in real life

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 
Wow, out of 7 responses to your post, you got 6 that answered your questions directly,
and 1 mildly snarky response from miles01110 and you can't let it go?

You must have a pretty tough time in real life

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif

Yes I do. You got me, again, dawg.
 
A computer virus is a computer program that can copy itself and infect a computer. The term "virus" is also commonly but erroneously used to refer to other types of malware, adware, and spyware programs that do not have the reproductive ability.

From Symantec:
What is the difference between viruses, worms, and Trojans?

What is a virus?
A computer virus is a small program written to alter the way a computer operates, without the permission or knowledge of the user. A virus must meet two criteria:
  • It must execute itself. It often places its own code in the path of execution of another program.
  • It must replicate itself. For example, it may replace other executable files with a copy of the virus infected file. Viruses can infect desktop computers and network servers alike.
What is a Trojan horse?
Trojan horses are impostors—files that claim to be something desirable but, in fact, are malicious. A very important distinction between Trojan horse programs and true viruses is that they do not replicate themselves. Trojan horses contain malicious code that when triggered cause loss, or even theft, of data. For a Trojan horse to spread, you must invite these programs onto your computers; for example, by opening an email attachment or downloading and running a file from the Internet.

What is a worm?
Worms are programs that replicate themselves from system to system without the use of a host file. This is in contrast to viruses, which requires the spreading of an infected host file. Although worms generally exist inside of other files, often Word or Excel documents, there is a difference between how worms and viruses use the host file. Usually the worm will release a document that already has the "worm" macro inside the document. The entire document will travel from computer to computer, so the entire document should be considered the worm.

What is a virus hoax?
Virus hoaxes are messages, almost always sent by email, that amount to little more than chain letters. Following are some of the common phrases that are used in these hoaxes:
  • If you receive an email titled [email virus hoax name here], do not open it!
  • Delete it immediately!
  • It contains the [hoax name] virus.
  • It will delete everything on your hard drive and [extreme and improbable danger specified here].
  • This virus was announced today by [reputable organization name here].
  • Forward this warning to everyone you know!
Most virus hoax warnings do not deviate far from this pattern. If you are unsure if a virus warning is legitimate or a hoax, additional information is available at the Symantec Security Response online database.

As of this time, there are NO viruses in the wild that affect current Mac OS X. In the past, there have been a few viruses that ran on older versions of the Mac operating system, but no longer.

There are, as of this time, trojans that can affect Mac OS X, but these must be downloaded and installed by the user, which involves entering the user's administrator password. Trojans can easily be avoided by the user exercising common sense and caution when installing applications. A common source of trojans is pirated software, typically downloaded from bit torrent sites.

Having virus protection software on your Mac is pointless, as far as protecting your Mac from viruses, since AV software can't detect a virus that doesn't exist. It is possible to have a file reside on your hard drive that contains a Windows virus, but since a Windows virus (program) can't run in native Mac OS X, it would be harmless to your Mac. Some choose to run AV on their Mac to scan for Windows viruses, so the Mac user can't pass a virus-infected file to a Windows user. In my opinion, a Windows user should be protected by their own AV software, so the burden of protection lies with the Windows user.
 
Thank you

That cleared up a lot. I don't have a lot of free time to google all this stuff myself and rely on this website for help with quickie answers to stuff I figure long-time users know off the top of their heads. Thanks again....
 
That cleared up a lot. I don't have a lot of free time to google all this stuff myself and rely on this website for help with quickie answers to stuff I figure long-time users know off the top of their heads. Thanks again....

Well, I did give you a quick and correct answer, and you called it "crazy." :rolleyes:
 
You are right

Well, I did give you a quick and correct answer, and you called it "crazy." :rolleyes:

You are absolutely right and instead of focusing on the one rude comment I got back, I should have first apologized to you! Obviously, the problem I had with my imac wasn't a virus and something else and I shouldn't have posted that without getting more info. No hard feelings I hope...
 
You are absolutely right and instead of focusing on the one rude comment I got back, I should have first apologized to you! Obviously, the problem I had with my imac wasn't a virus and something else and I shouldn't have posted that without getting more info. No hard feelings I hope...

No hard feelings. Enjoy that new iMac.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.