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Anti - Virus
- Thread starter MacJohnson
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It's a Mac...
There's are no known viruses that can physically attack a Mac without your consent (admin password require) Save yourself the hassle and forget the Anti-Virus applications for some other Joe who's running Windows.
You'll only need such utility when you're using Windows OS under Bootcamp, in which case I'd choose AVG Free it does the job and it's free!
thanks ill stay away from the anti virus...im a mac virgin and just wondering what was out there...Do have a ? on the PC they have disk clean up...anything like that on the mac?
As previously mentioned, it's a Mac. Just use it. No need for any of that kind of garbage that people are used to on PCs. Just use the machine, it's smart enough to clean itself and take care of itself. Enjoy your Mac and Merry Christmas!
--mAc
A PC is like a three-week-old baby: It needs constant attention, can't/won't do anything on its own, and capable of dropping dead from SIDS at any time.
A Mac is like a seven- or eight-year-old: It's toilet trained, it'll get its own food, and is smart enough to have developed a little bit of a personality.
Defragging can still be helpfull in some circumstances, depending how system is used.
OS X is meant to be used slightly fragmented. It makes your computer run smoother as OS X is able to contact certain things faster when they're fragmented. Having said that sometimes defragging is necessary, especially if you want to partition your drive.
Be VERY cautious about defragging OS X machines. Mac OS X automatically distributes files over the drive in an optimal fashion for itself. Defragging can disrupt what the OS has already done and actually slow down your machine. These third party apps often do not understand the file structure (Journaled HFS+) as well as the OS, and end up screwing it up. Not to mention that OS X also runs cleanup scripts during the night (or upon boot if you turn your machine off or sleep it at night) to keep itself lean and mean.
I would recommend not running any sort of "cleaning" or "defragging" scripts on the machine. Often, they are nowhere near as efficient as OS X itself is, and may end up causing decreasing speed.
The ONLY situation in which defragging is recommended under Mac OS X is if you have many (read: dozens) of large (read: 10GB+) files stored on the boot drive. This could be a common situation for people who say, edit a fair amount of video, do substantial graphics work, or heavy audio production. If you do not do any professional work in the above categories, I would not recommend defragging AT ALL.
--mAc
bad plan. Don't defrag unless you intend on partitioning your drive, and even then it is rarely needed. Defragging on a whim in an attempt to make your machine run faster will not only slow it down, but may cause data loss.
There's absolutely no need to waste resources (CPU & HD) on lame applications created by overtly warped windows based corporations. Though... If you feel the need for them, you can ofcourse buy them and install them. But this is the Mac, just use it and relax knowing your in good hands. If you don't believe me, just watch everyone else post their opinions on this thread...
Merry Christmas.
Don't forget to leave the system on from time to time, so OSX can do the house keeping for you.
Try to avoid all those so-called utilities, they only good for lining the MacOS trash and thinning your wallet.
P.S. If you need a Firewall.
Open up the System Preferences and goto the Security control panel,
there's a UNIX strength firewall build right into the OS with stealth features.
ClamXav, its free, can be set up for manual /scheduled scans and or you can select specific folders for realtime scans ("Folder Sentry").
If you work in a mixed environment ClamXav is a good solution, it is a GUI for Clam AntiVirus an open source (GPL) anti-virus toolkit for UNIX, designed especially for e-mail scanning on mail gateways
Manual sans are slow, although they are very infrequently needed once "Folder Sentry" is set up just guard your download folder & document, you will see no impact in performance on the MBP
Q-6
If you work in a mixed environment ClamXav is a good solution, it is a GUI for Clam AntiVirus an open source (GPL) anti-virus toolkit for UNIX, designed especially for e-mail scanning on mail gateways
Manual sans are slow, although they are very infrequently needed once "Folder Sentry" is set up just guard your download folder & document, you will see no impact in performance on the MBP
Q-6
Doesn't matter what it's designed for, that's just a marketing ploy, developers want you to believe that their product is the best you've ever used!
If you using MacOSX as your main OS. There are no trogens, viruses or spyware on the internet that could cause harm to your Mac, period. So having them installed will only slow your machine down and consume valuable resources.
Wrong again. ClamXav is not anti-virus. It's a virus scanner and it is entirely useful for even a Mac user. It's meant to scan your computer for viruses that you may pass onto windows computers. It uses no resources unless it is running.
Wrong again?
Bad choice of word me thinks... Bahh... I don't mind sharing incoming mail trojan, viruses or other nasty bits of code with said with said windows users. They can spend the money to protect their investment. Why should I waste resources to protect others?
It`s Free so what's to market; in a mixed environment passing malicious code via mail received on a MAC to a corporate PC, then subsequently to a client, is entirely feasible.
ClamXav has negligible impact on performance, not caring if your Mac passes on malicious code, is all fine and well if you work in isolation, in the real world it might not be considered such a great principle.
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