I cannot really see this thread going anywhere good.
Everybody take a step back and breath a bit.
There aren't really any malware in the wild for OS X. There used to be a few for pre OS X Mac OS, most memorable was one distributed via a Mac magazine disk.
The good old macro viruses can still cause some trouble for the MS Office suite, especially the old ones, but that's not going to do any harm to anything but the normal.dot file.
There have been a couple of proof-of-concept trojans, which under certain conditions, and with much aid of the user could do a bit of damage, most prominently (from memory):
- One, a while back which tried to infest as many apps as possible and send itself to all iChat contacts almost succeeded, but a bug in the trojan made it harmless
- Another, more recently, masked itself as a porn-video-codec, that tricked the user to install it.
Since the term
virus, in addition to being a specific kind of malware with distinct properties also is being used more loosely as a generic term spanning all kinds of viruses, worms, trojans, etc, all the s*** that anti-
virus programs traditionally protect us from (excluding most spyware, adware, tracking cookies, etc.), taking the discussion down to a level of semantics ('it's a trojan, not a virus') just isn't funny anymore...it might be correct, but very little constructive and border-lining off topic when taken to the extreme.
Are OS X safe from virus attacks for all foreseeable future? Nope. Not at all. The first successful OS X
virus could be spreading as we speak. Does this make you need to run any anti-virus apps? That's a personal choice. I, personally, don't think so, as I'm pretty sure the existing AV programs for Mac OS X wouldn't detect a revolutionary new virus, anyway**. If you want that extra security, go for it...
** I think "common sense", having current backups, keeping the firewall up, stay away from dodgy websites and not open any downloaded apps/emailed attachments/IM-exchanged files/etc you're not absolutely sure about, will probably protect me better than any AV-program. 
My wish for the next virus for os x/anti-virus thread her on MR, and we all know that won't be until that pops up, is this: Calm down and think/read over your posts an extra time. I know it's not easy, this is a controversial topic, but try to take the high road. Both sides.
Thanks!
Oh, and if anyone want's to protest the closing of this thread, just report this post and the case will be reviewed...
