hello. i have just purchased an imac and would like to know what is the best and less intrusive antivirus to buy. also the cheapset place to buy it. any help would be great, thanx
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imac antivirus
- Thread starter eddieblock
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i really don't think there is any need to buy an antivirus program for your imac. that's one of the reasons people buy mac's is because they don' t get the viruses and crap that pc's get
Antivirus crap for Macs only slows your computer down. It prevents your Mac from sending viruses to Windows users, but there again, why would anyone want to do that? 
Some places require you to have antivirus on your computer, regardless of what type it is (universities and whatnot). I say, "Bully for you," as I'll never willingly put it on my computer. College'll be fun..
Some places require you to have antivirus on your computer, regardless of what type it is (universities and whatnot). I say, "Bully for you," as I'll never willingly put it on my computer. College'll be fun..
I recommend nothing. AV software will only take up some of your Mac's resources and there really is no point. That being said, don't be naive about the safety of your Mac, but know that this is simply one of the reasons why it is superior to a PC (along with no adware, spyware, etc.)
If you plan on loading Windows onto your Mac via BootCamp, Parallels or Fusion then you will still require all the Windows security for that, however when running OS X nothing is required. Once again though, be smart and realize that no system is perfect. To that end, do not enter your Admin password if prompted without reason, etc. - basically, just exercise some common sense and you'll be fine.
None is needed at this time. Macs only suffer from trojan horses, but that's more of a social engineering problem than anything else.
How to avoid trojan horses:
1) DON'T download anything from shady sources (bit torrent, pr0n, etc.)
2) REALLY DON'T use your administrator password to install the stuff I just told you not to download in step #1
How to avoid trojan horses:
1) DON'T download anything from shady sources (bit torrent, pr0n, etc.)
2) REALLY DON'T use your administrator password to install the stuff I just told you not to download in step #1
If you absolutely need antivirus, get ClamXAV (search in Google) it's totally free and finds Windows viruses. There are no actual viruses for the Mac, only one or two trojans that you can get from porn sites.
Good to hear!
Seriously, you should be able to everything on your Mac that you could do on Windows, plus much more. If you are ever in need of an app or just general assistance with anything, just do a search here on MacRumors and you'll most likely find the answers you need, If not, start a new thread (such as this one!) and we'll be more than happy to help. 
I'd take a few days to play with your Mac before deciding on software. Macs are very different from PCs It took me a few days to really understand how the OS worked.
It took me a few days to really understand how the OS worked.
I also recommend http://www.versiontracker.com (for freeware and shareware stuff) and http://www.opensourcemac.org (for freeware/open source stuff).
Big thanks
Hi
I just wanted to say a big thank you to this thread and more importantly deputy_doofy for this post - it's awesome. Loads of good stuff but most importantly for me - I have finally managed to get some music off my ipod
I have been trying for weeks to get some songs of my ipod that for some reason would no longer sync to any of my itunes libraries. The songs had disappeared from my old windows hard drives and all itunes wanted to do was wipe and resync and so thanks to Sentui (found at opensourcemac.org) I managed to get them off my ipod - YAY.
Big Thanks
Hi
I just wanted to say a big thank you to this thread and more importantly deputy_doofy for this post - it's awesome. Loads of good stuff but most importantly for me - I have finally managed to get some music off my ipod
I have been trying for weeks to get some songs of my ipod that for some reason would no longer sync to any of my itunes libraries. The songs had disappeared from my old windows hard drives and all itunes wanted to do was wipe and resync and so thanks to Sentui (found at opensourcemac.org) I managed to get them off my ipod - YAY.
Big Thanks
anti virus software
Hi,
If this is the case and you don't need anti virus software might someone be able to tell me why a person who I came across on Stickam keeps adding me to MSN despite the fact that all my public profiles (Facebook, MySpace, Stickam) are set to friends only? (And I don't have my email address displayed anywhere publicly) I changed my email address after the first time they threatened to keylog me, I've run ClamXAV program and everything is coming up clear, also I had a friend look at what programs were running at the time that this person said they were keylogging me they said it was all normal, what kind of precautions can I take against things like this? At first I just thought it was someone messing around with me, but since they've added this new email address and I've only given it to 20 people - family and friends included I can't see how they're finding loopholes.
Thanks.
Hi,
If this is the case and you don't need anti virus software might someone be able to tell me why a person who I came across on Stickam keeps adding me to MSN despite the fact that all my public profiles (Facebook, MySpace, Stickam) are set to friends only? (And I don't have my email address displayed anywhere publicly) I changed my email address after the first time they threatened to keylog me, I've run ClamXAV program and everything is coming up clear, also I had a friend look at what programs were running at the time that this person said they were keylogging me they said it was all normal, what kind of precautions can I take against things like this? At first I just thought it was someone messing around with me, but since they've added this new email address and I've only given it to 20 people - family and friends included I can't see how they're finding loopholes.
Thanks.
keyloggers require you to enter the admin password to be installed; have you installed any shady software recently?
You postulate a perplexing question! I've had a Mac for almost three years and am yet to get a virus. I have not purchased virus protection, either. However, I've heard wonderful ratings for Intego. I'd get it online, as I presume this route would be much cheaper.
Good luck,
Habitus
I think that failure to use anti-virus "because it is a Mac" is a misplaced trust.
I use Intego X5.
/Jim
I use Intego X5.
/Jim
Macs and viruses
I am not an expert, but I trust what seems to be the general feeling on this forum that Macs don't get viruses, however, I have not seen much talk about Spyware and tracking cookies, (which I take to be the same thing)
I have a programme called MacScan which regularly finds 'Tracking Cookies', most of which seem to emanate from Google, Your computer wont suffer harm from these, but your privacy certainly will.
I am not an expert, but I trust what seems to be the general feeling on this forum that Macs don't get viruses, however, I have not seen much talk about Spyware and tracking cookies, (which I take to be the same thing)
I have a programme called MacScan which regularly finds 'Tracking Cookies', most of which seem to emanate from Google, Your computer wont suffer harm from these, but your privacy certainly will.
There is a big difference between viruses and Trojans. Viruses get installed without you doing anything, and none are known on the Mac. Trojans get installed when you download something and give the admin password. Cookies are not viruses.
Sophos are doing free antivirus software for mac. Installed it on mine and it does not seem to affect the performance. I thought it was better to be safe than sorry.
ClamXav is free, also, but how do you think Sophos keeps you safe? It can't detect what doesn't exist.
Yep. That's when it started, but as is the case with many threads, it's been revived a few times.... such as in January of this year.