[Ozzy Dave]

Every now and then I get a box pop up on my screen titled "Software Upate" asking me to accept and to download. I presume this happens when I go onto the internet and is sent through from Mac-is this right, and should I accept or could it be some kind of virus which I need to sort out? Thanks very much for your help

[SMacTech]

Your computer is set to automatically check for updates via the Software Update System Preferences.
There are no viruses for Mac OS X. It is safe to install the updates, as they are coming directly from Apple.

[gorickey]

If you don't like this sort of behavior, you can simply uncheck "Check for updates..." and "Download important updates in the background" options via the Software Update section of System Preferences...

I personally prefer to check for updates manually myself.

[Millennium]

As with others, I prefer to check for updates manually, but this does look like the standard Apple software-update dialog box.

However, I suggest leaving the auto-checker on unless you're actually in the habit of checking for updates manually. SMacTech is correct that there are currently no known viruses for OSX, but Apple still delivers patches for other kinds of security issues; these tend to come once every other month or so. Keeping up to date is your best defense, and although Apple has a nasty habit of requiring unnecessary restarts after some of its patches, at least they make the whole process easy.

[Developer]

Originally posted by gorickey:
If you don't like this sort of behavior, you can simply uncheck "Check for updates..." and "Download important updates in the background" options via the Software Update section of System Preferences...

I suggest to keep the update checking enabled. Read through the description (shows when you select an update) to understand what is updated and always make the OS and security updates. You can also trust the other updates since all updates in the Software Update application come from Apple (but you might not need some of these such as iSight or iPod stuff etc. - those can be disabled in the Update menu of the Software Update application).

[Ozzy Dave]

many thanks for all your replies, much appreciated. Thanks again, Dave