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Antivirus?
- Thread starter puma1552
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Tallest Skil tells the truth. I run my Mac completely unprotected and have had absolutely no problems. None at all.
I also don't use any anti-virus software in OS X either.
At this point in time, there is only a need for it when you exchange a lot of Microsoft Office documents with Windows users. Although macro viruses for Office won't hurt your Mac, you might still spread the disease to other Windows users.
However, sooner or later the time will come when malware authors will also target OS X clients. So far, only a few proof-of-concept viruses have been written but never left the laboratory and Apple provided security patches that would have rendered them useless anyway. BUT: Not everybody installs all patches, and not everybody uses the latest and greatest version of OS X. The more people "switch", the more out-dated OS X installations we will have "in the wild". And the more (easy) targets will be there.
So although OS X uses a relatively secure and mature FreeBSD (UNIX) foundation, that does not mean that it is immune against virus software by nature or definition. It is just an operating system written by humans, with its own security holes and bugs that can be used to inject malicious software. Just because there is no such software in the wild today does not mean that it will also stay like this.
If you plan to use Windows in either BootCamp or Parallels or VMWare Fusion or any other virtualization software, you --must-- install an anti-virus software there. From everything we know, Vista is much more secure than XP, but it still is a Windows operating system and malware authors are also targeting it like crazy. Just because you will run it on a Mac doesn't make it any safer.
I used Mac OS X for a year and had zero problems until one day I decided to run McAfee Virex.
Four hours later, it found zero threats on my system.
Put the money you would spend on antiviral software to better use and drop it in one of the Salvation Army buckets the next time you're at the mall.
Four hours later, it found zero threats on my system.
Put the money you would spend on antiviral software to better use and drop it in one of the Salvation Army buckets the next time you're at the mall.
I always wash my hands with soap and water after using someone else's computer (keyboards, are disgusting, full of viruses and nasties don't you know!). Is that what you mean?? 
I've had a mac for 2 years & no anti-virus. It's always connected via broadband (I think in the US you call that something else?) to the net....no problems
IMO 50% on the belief meter. You probably don't need it but you may pass a virus downstream to a Windows user. It's more of a personal ethical issue than a blanket answer that most people would have you believe.
BTW, I don't think there is a version of AVG for Macs.
Apple recommends using anti-virus
You won't believe this, but Apple actually recommends using anti-virus software!!!
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2550
You won't believe this, but Apple actually recommends using anti-virus software!!!
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2550
That doesn't surprise me. It's always better to be safe than sorry should the time come when it is needed. I, for one, haven't used anything since OS 8/9; back when Norton actually supported the Mac, and made a pretty cool app suite. I highly recommended against it when there weren't any good options available. Especially when OS X first came out, and many years after, every virus program was crap.
It's not a "fan boy" thing, it's an operating system/user base thing. For starters, those super-cool people who write viruses in their mother's secret, basement lairs want to infect millions of computers; take down banks, schools, governments, and WoW servers: most of which do not run on Apple hardware/software. You don't see any zero-day exploits for the Mac OS because no one bothers.
Secondly, the system itself is inherently more secure than Windows, in my opinion (pre Vista). Not that Mac OS is impenetrable, but rather slightly tougher than Windows overall. Sure, there are Apple Scripts that can destroy everything, but that's kind of different. I don't want to get into all, but Windows' best solution to a huge problem was UAV (which is a horrible solution that "works").
That is correct.
I share a lot of Office files, so I do use Norton AntiVirus. I've had it for over three years but never had to use it.
Norton has stated more than a few times that they don't really care about supporting the Mac OS, and I'd say that 99% of the viruses that it finds (probably similar to the other Mac virus apps) are Windows related that can't do anything to affect the system. They can, however, be transmitted if you send lots of files to Windows buddies, so that can be beneficial in that sense.
No antivirus here either! How ever i was reading that apple are now recommending it! I went to click on the link that i was send to read what apple have said. I find that the link doesn't exist?
I had the same problem, adding /au after the apple.com part (so the URL was apple.com/au/whatever) allowed it to appear for me though.
They removed that the next day (Dec. 2). I think it was published by mistake and some similar article says you don't need AV protection, but to be 100 percent safe you can use it. I think PC World covered it.
I use Clam AV to check my MBP every three months (always zero threats) and ClamWin in Parallels/XP to monitor Windows (I use it for General Motors service software and some other things) because Clam is alot lighter and less annoying than AVG or Avast. But honestly, I haven't actually had a virus, Windows or otherwise, since I had a Tandy in the early 90s. On Windows, I had spyware sometimes, but that got caught during weekly scans.