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S1njin

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 3, 2010
838
46
NJ
Hey Gang,

So I haven't had a Mac for well over a decade and a half now. I'll be getting my new M2 Air shortly (though sadly its going under the tree before I can get to it). Are there any software products I should be considering with it? Maintenance software (I see a lot of YouTubers have CleanMyMac X), Anti-Virus software, malware software, etc.? I'm already have a password keeper sub so I have that angle covered.

Way back when I had my Mac the common wisdom at the time was "The OS is based on Unix so you need not worry about viruses) and malware wasn't totally a thing yet.

Any advice?

Thanks much.
 

KaliYoni

macrumors 68000
Feb 19, 2016
1,788
3,931
Any advice?

First, here are my views on Mac security:

My browser setup:

Some paid utilities I like:

I'm not generally a fan of cleaning apps but I do use Onyx occasionally.

A discussion about free alternatives to MS Office:

Finally, if you want Adobe-style image software but without a subscription, the maker of the Affinity suite has a sale on its software through mid December:
 
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Basic75

macrumors 68020
May 17, 2011
2,071
2,430
Europe
I see a lot of YouTubers have CleanMyMac X
They surely got paid to install this kind of crapware. I agree with @KaliYoni that Onyx can be occasionally useful, but most "keep your Mac clean" apps are useless at best, and a waste of money and/or system resources, if not outright harmful, at worst.
 
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Basic75

macrumors 68020
May 17, 2011
2,071
2,430
Europe
I recommend installing IINA and/or VLC to be able to play just about any video file. And of course Handbrake if you want to convert or recompress video files.
 

rocketbuc

macrumors 6502
Oct 18, 2017
350
323
I just recently made a list of the support tools that I am using on my new M2 Air. When populating the list I was actually surprised at the large number I have to tweak macOS. Might get rid of some in the future but at the moment I am still happy and find all of them useful.

Here is my list:
- AlDente (battery charge limiter)
- Coconut Battery (check battery status)
- HazeOver (paid app that highlights active window and greys out rest)
- Hush (blocker tool)
- Keyboard Cleaner Tool
- Lockdown (privacy blocker)
- Onxy (great little tool)
- TopNotch
- DuckDuckGo Privacy Tools
- ClipGrab
- Logitech Tools (for Logitech Mechanical Mini keyboard)
- HiddenBar
- SuperDuper! (Complement to Time Machine backup)
- TimeMachine Editor
- TinkerTool
- Wipr (privacy tool)
- GrandPerspective (visualize what is on your harddisk)
- Rectangle (window management tool)

Happy to provide additional infos about the tools and my specific usage.
 
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chown33

Moderator
Staff member
Aug 9, 2009
10,996
8,880
A sea of green
Moderation Note

There's an existing thread about this topic:

Please take any further discussion there.


If you're specifically looking for anti-virus software, please do a forum search before starting a new thread. Here are two recent search results:

Search parameters:
keyword: virus​
scope: This forum​
titles only: checked​
 
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